Love That Transcends Time
by Merilee
Summary: InuyashaFushigiYugi cross-over. Ai is no ordinary school girl. She's the reincarnation of two priestesses, Kagome and Miaka. She chanced upon two groups of strange people who claimed to know her. WHo are they and what do they want? Please R
1. Premonition

Love That Transcends Time 

This is a IY and FY fanfic. My timeline is messed, so let's just say they all have the same amount of time passing in all three worlds and Miaka and Kagome went back 15 years in order to be reincarnated at the right time. Sorry but you just have to bear with me. Oh yeah, one more thing, PLEASE R&R!

**Chapter 1, Premonition**

"Ring, ring! You are late, you are late!" Ai reluctantly turned off the annoying electric alarm clock. "Good morning!" It chanted happily. "What's so good about it," Ai muttered grumpily, then realized that she's arguing with an alarm clock. I must be turning nuts, she thought. Ai stretched her arms, and was ready to get out of her bed.

"Bring me to life…" Ai was singing contently in the shower, clearly enjoying herself. But all that came to an end as she felt the chilling cold water splashed down her back. What the, she thought. Then she heard toilet flushing and the laughter of her kid brother. "Haru!" she screamed, " Wait till I tell Mom about this. Or better yet, I'll come up with something better." Ai could hear him as he blew a raspberry at her from behind the curtain. Huh, she sighed, annoying little brother. Thank goodness Yutaka isn't like this, but he's in college after all.

Ai swung her backpack over her shoulder and ran down the stairs. She was wearing her school uniform. It's sailor style and has brown collars and skirt with the rest of it white. (just think a combination of Kagome's and Miaka's uniforms). On her way she passed the old shrine beside her apartment. She stopped and stared at it. For some reason she's fascinated by the old buildings and often wondered what's it like to live in it everyday. It would seem that you were transported back in time, she thought. Then she remembered about school and a big test she's about to take in three days and sighed. She stopped her daydream and walked on. Then, for some unknown reason she looked back as she turned the corner, and was surprised at the fact that she wasn't alone. She noticed a group of people with various hair colours walked towards the shrine. They had hair that are black, turquoise coloured, orange/red, brown, blue, and every other shade imaginable. One lady even had purple hair! What business do they have at the shrine? Ai thought suspiciously. And then she became alarmed as several people in the group turned around to look at her. Ai ignored them and quickened her pace. Somehow she knew that they were not ordinary punks who roamed the area.

The seishis were very disencouraged. Their quest was far from completed. It's very urgent but still they had no clue whatsoever about what to do next. The summoning had ended in disaster and Miaka, their miko, had lost her life in the process. Kutou Empire now ruled the World of the Book, and wanted to expand their domain to the real world with the help of their own dark oracle. To prevent this from happening, and to save the world of the book, the Light Oracle, Taiitsukun, had used her magic to open the portal to Miaka's world and thus allow the seishis to exist in the real world temporarily. They must save this world from the evil of Nakago. But in order to do that, they must find the reincarnation of Miaka.

Amiboshi walked along with the Suzaku Seishis. He knew he didn't belong with them. But he did not want to become one of the Seiryu Seishis, working alongside with Emperor Nakago, and his Empress, Soi. (yes, it's me, the Annoying One, and no, you didn't read it wrong. Nakago had become Emperor of Kutou and had taken Soi as his wife. Though for love, I doubt it. But I felt that Soi deserves this, at least) so he joined the Suzaku Seishis. For he, too, felt a strong bond with Miaka. Taiitsukun had been extra generous since she really liked his flute playing and that he didn't really like to call her an "old geezer" like everyone else, so she allowed him to go with the Suzaku Seven as well. Everyone had accepted him as one of them. Well, almost everybody. Amiboshi thought as he felt the cold, suspicious stares of Tasuki as they came to the shrine where Taiitsukun had temporarily taken residence. Then suddenly, he felt something. It's just a flicker, but he definitely sensed it. It felt like pure energy, like the energy of a righteous priestess. The others didn't seem to notice, which was just normal, since he's the one who's most sensitive to chi because manipulating chi through his flute was one of his seishi powers. He turned around, and what he saw in the distance was a girl with shoulder-length black hair and big brown-black eyes. Amiboshi poked at Chichiri who's beside him. Chichiri was at first puzzled but he soon followed his gaze and saw Ai. Chichiri poked Nuriko, Nuriko then in turn poked Tamahome, Tamahome then poked Hotohori… Tasuki noticed that everyone was acting strange. "Whaccha lookin' at?" Amiboshi pointed at the girl who's looking strangely at them. "What's your problem? It's just a stupid girl." Tasuki walked away. Others shrugged it off and walked away with him. Amiboshi followed along hesitantly. And when he looked back, the girl was gone.

Ai had a busy day so she had no time to think about the morning's event. But when she was heading home from school, her head was flooded with thoughts. Boy, those people sure were creepy, she thought. No, creepy isn't the word, but she definitely felt something when she looked at them. Grrrrr, Ai groaned, trying to shake the thoughts from her mind. Thoughts even she herself could not understand.

Oh silly me, Ai told herself sternly, what happened this morning would never happen again. Ironically, right at that moment Ai saw a red flash in the air just around the corner. What the, Ai was startled. She could've sworn that she saw a boy in a red kimono. He had silver hair, and DOG EARS! This is waaaaaaaaay too creepy, Ai thought to herself, now I'm definitely getting premonitions.


	2. Recognization

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yugi or Inuyasha. They belong to Takahashi-sensei and Watase-sensei. I wish I did though, they are all so Kawaii!_   
Chapter Two, Recognization 

Inuyasha was his usual, grumpy self this morning. He swore and snapped at everyone who tried to talk to him. Although he denied it, everyone knew what was going on in his head. Inuyasha had not been in a good mood ever since Kagome died. No matter how much they argued, they still loved each other and Inuyasha knew it. Of course, being his usual, stubborn, stupid self the hanyou refused to show it. But the truth was, he missed Kagome. Not long after she died he realized that the girl had a special place in his heart no one else could replace, not even Kikyo. On the outside, he was his usual, ornery self. But underneath all his transparent lies, sorrow and grief are slowly devouring him from within. Sometimes, under the starry night sky, when he was by himself, he would even allow a few drops of tears to run down his cheek and regretting that he never showed how he truly felt for Kagome. And now, he might never…

But there was still a chance, there's still a chance, Inuyasha kept reminding himself. He must follow Kaede's instructions and find Kagome's reincarnation. But there would always be a small, ugly voice that reminded him of his fears: Would things be the same? After all, the reincarnation could be someone totally different. And would she be able to love him back? There's a good chance that she wouldn't even remember who he was. At those moments, Inuyasha would quickly wave those thoughts aside, ignoring them. Or he would dismiss his feelings for Kagome as foolishness altogether.

"Miroku, get up you big bozou!" Inuyasha shouted. It's almost eleven o'clock in the morning and the lazy monk was still in bed. "Do you think there's something wrong with him?" Sango asked, she tried to hide the worry in her voice, but her eyes betrayed her emotion. Inuyasha smiled one of his rare smiles. He remembered how Kagome used to set them up all the time. But both Sango and Miroku had been extremely dense. Then he remembered, Kagome… Sango leaned down to examine a (seemingly) sleeping Miroku. Inuyasha was almost surprised when… "Can't you get your mind off of it you pervert!" Sango slapped Miroku one of her hardest and most painful slaps. Any person with an IQ larger than his shoe size could figure out what happened. That ought to wake him up pretty quick, Inuyasha thought. "Come on, we got to get to the well! And this time I have to find something to cover up my ears." "Yeah, and maybe this time we won't find a frightened passer-by calling the, what did he call it? Dog shelter," teased Miroku. "SHUT UP, Miroku," Inuyasha gave the unfortunate monk a punch in the head.

They met up with the priestess Kaede at the village. Shippo was complaining all the way there about how he's not allowed to go until Lady Kaede gave him a sweet bun. Kaede then reminded them of all the precautions they must take before going to Kagome's era. Inuyasha wondered for a second if Kaede knows a bit too much about Kagome's era, considering she's never been there before, but didn't say anything about it, he was eager to start off today's search.

Fifteen minutes later, they were on the streets of Tokyo, continuing their search for the reincarnation of their friend. "Dear Sango," Miroku said, still with a red mark on the side of his face, "I'm so glad that you have concern for me." Sango ignored him. People on the streets were staring, as usual. She had almost gotten used to it. Almost. They could wear clothes from this world to blend in better, she thought, but Inuyasha insisted they wear clothes from Sengoku Jidai, or the Warring States Era. Although he didn't say it, Sango knew he wanted Kagome's reincarnation to recognize them once they find her.

After a long and weary search, the gang were ready to go back to the other side of the well. Miroku good-heartedly reminded Inuyasha that they had to consult Lady Kaede as soon as they return. But Inuyasha punched him in the head and shouted that he remembers. Though he didn't say it, Inuyasha always had a feeling that Lady Kaede knew more than she should. But what it was that she knew, he couldn't tell.

It's the late afternoon and the gang was going towards the shrine. Sango and Miroku kept silent. They knew that every time Inuyasha was near the shrine he became sad and sullen with the memories of Kagome. The Higurashi family moved away from the shrine they had lived in for generations after Kagome's death and Kagome's grandfather had tried to seal the well with his (useless) sutras. Inuyasha knew the old shrine and the Sacred Tree had a special place in their hearts, yet they moved away. Maybe the memory was too painful for them to bear, too.

Miroku was just about to break the intense silence when Inuyasha suddenly turned around and started sniffing. "What's the matter, Inuyasha?" he inquired, knowing something was afoot. His first reaction was that they encountered demons, but then realized that there weren't a lot of demons in this world. Besides, Inuyasha didn't take out his Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha ignored him and continued sniffing. Then, an idea dawned him, could this be what they waited for? Miroku followed Inuyasha's intense gaze and saw a girl standing not far from them. The image hit him hard. The resemblance was uncanny, he thought. The girl had medium length black hair that almost appeared as reddish-brown when the sun shone on it. Her eyes were big, they appear to be black with brown, just like Kagome's, but were also mixed in with a bit of green. She was wearing a kind of clothing Kagome called "school uniform". In fact, they were just like Kagome's except hers was white and brown, while Kagome's had green skirt and collar. Wow, if there was a reincarnation, then it must her, thought Miroku. Then he saw the look of alarm that darted across Inuyasha's face and suddenly noticed the differences. Certainly this girl looked and felt like Kagome, but there was something, or rather SOMEONE else, there, too.

Ai felt the intense and focused stare the boy in the red kimono gave her and was a little bit uncomfortable, she never had boys staring at her like that before. But it happened today, twice! What's going on? Curiosity took over as she gathered enough courage to look at him right in the eye. What she found there astounded her. There was recognization, happiness, longing, fear, pain, and even love in those eyes. Ai knew that to be able to feel all those things about a person you have to know that person for a long time. But they had just met, how could it be? Do I know this person? She searched her brain for the memory of a boy with silver hair and dog ears, but finding none. Instead she had the strangest feeling of déjà vu.

Ai became alarmed as the boy tried to reach out to her. She wanted to run away as fast as possible, but a part of her told her to stay right where she was. "Kagome," the boy called out. Kagome, he must've mistaken me for someone else, Ai came to the conclusion, in spite of the fact that her own déjà vu remained unexplained. The boy's next move astounded her even further. Without saying another word, he grabbed her sleeve and pulled her into his arms. Ai was so shocked that she didn't know how to react, and when she came to her senses, she tried to protest, but the boy held her even tighter. Ai felt herself tense up as he buried his head in her silky hair, sniffing, and enjoying, her scent. Ai knew she must stop this at once. She opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by his lips pressing against hers.

"WHAT are you doing?" Ai yelled, placing her hands on his chest and pushed him as hard as she could. The boy lost his footing and stumbled, but quickly regained his balance. "What was that for?" he yelled back. Ai stared at him, wide eyed: he just kissed me for no reason and now he's demanding an answer from me? "You are such a jerk! We are perfect strangers and you KISSED me! And now you are asking me why I pushed you away? Be reasonable." Ai said angrily. But her anger was soon subdued when a look of sadness darted across the boy's face. "So you don't remember," he said softly, "I wish I had mistaken you for someone else, but I now know for sure that you are who I'm looking for. The way you smelled, the way you felt, and the way you yelled and pushed me away. It's all so like her." "So, you loved her?" Ai asked. "I love you," he said, looking at her right in the eye, "I won't repeat my mistakes Kagome, I'll help you remember."

Ai couldn't think of any replies. But even if she did, she would never gotten the chance to answer because right at that moment, she felt a gust of wind brushing past her and the next thing she knew, she was yanked out of the boy's arms and was now carried in a very awkward position by a tall boy with long coat, jewelries, and flaming red hair.

Ai was at first shocked at the boy's speed but quickly reacted. She examined her position: she was being swung across the boy's shoulders and he held both her arms and her legs. This could be tricky, she thought. She used her only available weapon, her teeth, and bit his neck. "Aww!" he yelled in pain, immediately slowed down. As soon as she felt his grip weaken, she yanked out her right hand and hit him in the base of his skull with her elbow, knocking him unconscious. She jumped down, and saw the boy in the red kimono already caught up to them. Wow, he's fast too. "Are you okay?" he inquired with concern. "I'm fine, but I don't know about him, though." The boy grinned, showing his fangs. Ai gasped. "What?" "Y-you have fangs!" "So do a lot of people," he said with a smirk, "now lets get this guy out of the way." He was just about to kick him aside when someone yelled from behind, "Stop!" They turned around, and Ai let out a low "oh-oh." It's the group from this morning. Then she remembered that the boy with red hair was part of the group. Now I'm in big trouble, she thought. But instead of attacking her, the people in the group just stood there and gawked at her. Finally, one of them spoke,

"Miaka? Is that you?"

Ai doesn't know what she felt at that moment. First Kagome, now Miaka? Ai was struck numb as a tall guy with a short ponytail ran to her and took her into his arms. Ai felt anger rising inside her. Was this some sort of sick joke? Ai had never been popular with boys and never wanted to be. Right now she just wanted these people to leave her alone. She bent her leg and hit the boy in the stomach with her knee. The boy stumbled but quickly recovered. "What's matter?" he asked, trying to grab her arm. Ai ignored him and swung a punch at him, he dodged with amazing agility and speed. This guy's good, Ai thought. She then quickly got down and did a spin kick. The boy jumped away.

Ai noticed everyone present was staring at her but she didn't care. All she could feel was the red-hot anger inside her. "I don't know what's with you people," she said loudly, "but if anyone try to touch me again, he will be sorry!" The second she finished saying this she felt a hand on her butt. "Okay, I warned ya!"

Sango was holding a bucket of water, beside her was Inuyasha. They were both standing over an unconscious Miroku. Sango poured the water onto his face and after five seconds, he stirred and woke up.

"Miroku, when will you ever learn?" Inuyasha said impatiently, Sango just gave him a cold stare. "Just promise me you will not ask her to bear your child, would ya monk?" Miroku just nodded, too dazed to argue.

"Man, I've never seen her fight like this before," Inuyasha observed. Then he noticed one of the guys from the other gang turned around to look at him. "You know her?" said the guy with the blue Mohawk. "Why do you need to know?" he snapped. "You see," the blue-haired monk said hesitantly, seemingly thinking of which part of the story should he tell him, "we suspected her to be the reincarnation of our priestess and we need her to continue our mission." "WHAT?" Inuyasha shouted, "YOUR PRIESTESS? She's the reincarnation of Kagome!" "Kagome. Is she also a priestess?" he asked. Inuyasha nodded. "Well that's funny…" "Why don't we just ask her?" a lady with purple braid said.

Now all eyes were on Ai, demanding an answer. Ai felt nervous as sweat dripped down her neck. "No, you are mistaken," she said, looking at the ground, "I'm no priestess." After this, she turned around and walked away, oblivious to the disappointed glances of the people behind her.


	3. Deflection

_Discaimer: It's sad but true, I don't own Inuyasha or Fushigi Yugi. I don't even own the comic books. I won a DVD of Inu's first movie from YTV though. _   
Chapter Three, Deflection 

"H-how did Nakago found the passage to this world?" Nuriko asked, struggling. He was half strangled by Ashitare and you'd better believe it hurts. "I don't know," answered Chichiri. He was concentrating hard for working his spells. "That bastard." Tasuki swore, waving his tessen violently at his enemy, Soi. But Soi jumped away out of the way and shot a lightning attack at him, it landed dangerously close.

Nearby, Tamahome was punching and kicking desperately, trying to get Ashitare off of Nuriko. He landed a punch on its shoulder and kicked its head hard. Ashitare let go of Nuriko and howled in pain. "Thanks, Tama-kins," he said gratefully as he checked his bruises.

Hotohori saw that Tasuki was having a rough time so he ran over to help him beat Soi. Even though he didn't like hitting women, business meant business. He used his holy sword to absorb Soi's lightning and backfired it at her. Soi got electrified and with a scream, she fell unconscious.

Just when the Suzaku warriors thought they could rest a bit, a formidable dark aura approached. "Damn it." Tasuki cursed. Everyone fell silent. They knew what this meant; Nakago himself had come and the Suzaku Seven were in no condition to fight him.

Inuyasha was running as fast as his hanyou speed could go. Miroku and Sango flew on Kirara just above him. They all sensed an evil energy and were hurrying toward it to check it out. "This way," Inuyasha shouted as he sniffed the air. The gang turned the corner and what they saw astounded them.

The group from yesterday was there, battling a bunch of evil beings. They all appeared to be humans, but with demon-like aura and strength. Especially a guy with blond hair, His chi felt awfully like Naraku's. Then there's the guy who looked like a human-wolf hybrid. And that's as close to a demon as one could get. Inuyasha unsheathed his tetsaiga.

"Nakago!" Amiboshi said between clenched teeth. "What's the matter Amiboshi?" Nakago smirked, "You're hanging around the Suzaku scums." "They are not scums!" Amiboshi yelled loudly, "Each and everyone of them is more of a friend to me than you'll ever be." "A worthy Seiryu warrior never calls Suzaku's creatures friends." Nakago looked at Amiboshi right in the eye, "You are a Seiryu warrior Amiboshi. Think, think about your brother!" Amiboshi flinched, he dropped his head. His twin brother Suboshi was what he loved most and since they were very little, he promised that he would always stay with him and take care of him no matter what. All they had left was each other. "He didn't come today because of you. He told me that he wants you to come to your senses…" "N-no." Amiboshi groaned quietly. "Don't ya bail on us now, Amiboshi. Damn it!" Tasuki shouted angrily.

Amiboshi then came back from his trance. Tasuki's cursing had brought out the determination in him. He calmly took out his flute and shouted to his friends, "Guys, cover up your ears." He then put his flute beside his mouth, preparing to play the deadly "Song of Mass Destruction." Nakago merely smirked at his move. He calmly shot a beam of energy at Amiboshi. Amiboshi yelled in pain as the electrifying energy beam quickly wrapped itself around him, squeezing the air out of him. In his suffering he dropped his flute. "Amiboshi!" Chichiri yelled, preparing to work a spell. "Tomo!" Nakago beckoned. Tomo bowed slightly to Nakago and took out one of his shells. Then suddenly, out sprouted four snarling demonic beasts. "Oh, no, not one of his illusions." Nuriko groaned. One of the beasts sprinted towards Chichiri. He jumped out of the way, but broke his concentration in the process. The beast then turned around and ran towards Amiboshi along with the other beasts. Amiboshi watched helplessly as the demon beasts closed in on him. He could almost feel their heavy breathing and their killing rage. Any second now their sharp, glistening fangs would tear through his flesh and crush his bones…

"Tetsaiga!" Inuyasha shouted in mid-air as he made his attack. The four beasts were slashed into pieces as a light of gold flashed before them. "Oh, the Suzaku warriors had made some friends," a guy with a funny hat and even funnier face paint smirked at him. "Which is just fine by me. With all of you together, I'll finally have some worthy opponents." Inuyasha didn't know what "Suzaku" means. Nor did he consider the bunch of weaklings his friends. But he knew one thing, he did NOT like people smirking at him. "I'll show you a worthy opponent Clown Face!" he yelled. The guy just frowned, "I'm not a clown. My face paint has special meanings. And I'll show one of them to you right now!" He took out another one of his funny clam shells and out came a whole herd of demonic beasts. Inuyasha steadied his balance, he knew the exact thing to do. He concentrated and directed his energy around his sword. He could feel and smell the wind gathering around it. "Wind Scar!" With a thrust of wind and a blinding golden light, the energy beams shot forward, piercing through the demons as well as the hard ground. For a while the smoke and the smell of burning flesh hung in the air. After they were gone, large cracks had appeared on the ground and the demons were turned into ashes. Inuyasha noticed the people from the strange bunch were gawking at him, but the clown guy just nodded. "Impressive. But there are plenty more to come." Just as he was taking out another shell the tall blond man stopped him. "No more Tomo. I'm ending this right now."

Inuyasha could tell that he's concentrating his chi, but was cocksure that he could take whatever attack the other guy could come up with. The "no's" and gasps coming from the others meant nothing to him. But what he saw next shocked even him. Miroku and Sango watched in fear as Kirara growled.

The Suzaku Seven and Amiboshi were sure that they had only a few more seconds to live. The energy they felt from Nakago was great, greater than any they had ever experienced from him. One blast could kill them all. Nakago laughed maliciously as he released the energy beam. The gang watched helplessly as the energy beam closed in on them with amazing speed. Any second now…

Ai concentrated her miko energy. She's had never done this before and felt a little nervous. But she knew she didn't have time for nervousness, one flicker of distraction could mean disaster. Almost immediately a reddish-pink barrier was formed in front of her out-stretched arms. A second later she felt the impact of the dark energy pressing against her barrier. It tried to push her back. Slowly at first, then it pushed with such force it almost made her stumble. Ai steadied her footing. Here goes nothing, she thought as she used all her might the push the energy back. "Deflect Curse!" she yelled to add to her strength. At first the dark energy didn't budge an inch. Come on, don't fail me now, Ai silently urged herself and concentrated harder. Then slowly, the energy began to be pushed back and with a final thrust from Ai, it backfired, but its momentum sent Ai flying.

The celestial warriors watched as Nakago's own energy beam backfired at him. Using its momentum from the original attack, it moved even faster than before. Nakago quickly moved to the side, but not fast enough. The energy brushed past his left arm and immediately the skin melted. "Okay, you win this time Suzaku scums. But watch out for next time. I will get my revenge!" he gasped in pain. After that he and the rest of the Seiryu warriors (minus Amiboshi) vanished into the thin air.

After letting out a long, relieved sigh, they quickly turned their attention to the girl. Her action had stunned them. There she was, coming out of now where, and stopped directly in front of the attacking energy wave then deflected it, saving their lives. What's going on? How could she have such power?

Ai was still dazed from the impact. She was vaguely aware that people were standing over her and watching her. She felt that she was being held in someone arms but was too weak to fight. After her head had cleared, she heard someone asking her softly, "Are you alright?" Still too weak to answer, she just lied back and closed her eyes once more. And when she opened them, she saw a hand just above her from it came a soft, bubbling light. Then for some reasons, she felt calm and warm as the energy entered her and a few seconds later, she was shocked to find out that all her muscle pains were gone. She's as good as new.

"Mitsukake healed you," a little kid about twelve or thirteen told her after she sat up, pointing to a tall, firm-faced man. She nodded. After a moment of awkward silence someone brought up the questions, "What did you do? That felt like miko energy." Then, a black-haired monk from the other group chimed in, "Yeah, that definitely felt like the energy of a priestess." Ai heard the dog-eared boy in the red kimono demanded her, "Did you lie to us?" Then all eyes were on her once again. "Um, I gotta go." Ai said hurriedly, got on her feet, and sprinted out of there.

"Man, she was fast." Ai heard one of the guys whined behind her. But even though she was fast, they were faster. Soon the boy in red and the flame-haired boy cut her off in the front, and others came in behind and beside her. She was surrounded.

"What do you want?" She shouted. "We want you to come with us," the boy in the red kimono spoke everyone's mind. "And why would I want to do that?" Ai asked, but was cut off by an old woman's voice saying, "Uh, I see. Looks like you finally decide to show your powers."

"Lady Kaede?" "Taiitsukun?"


	4. Reincarnation

Chapter Four, Reincarnation 

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi yugi or Inuyasha and co._

_A special thanks to Silver Pain, the only person who's reviewed so far! (teary eyes) Maybe people just don't like Fushigi Yugi and Inu crossovers. But those two shows have sooooo many things in common! Anyway, Silver Pain please keep reviewing, you are the only thing that keeps me writing now._

"Lady Kaede"? Inuyasha and co. called out in surprise. "Taiitsukun?" the seishis did the same.

"Kaede Obaasan! Taitsukun Obaasan!" Ai yelled as she hurried over and knelt down in front of the two old women as a sign of respect.

"You know her?" everyone said in surprise and at the same time. "Of course I know them," Ai said coolly, "and the same goes for you guys too, I presume."

"What's this all about?" Inuyasha said hotly, facing the priestess Kaede. "You are not even supposed to be here you old hag!" "Calm down Inuyasha," the aging priestess calmly replied, "have mercy on an old woman who's working her heart out to help you reckless young people." "And the same goes for you too, Seishis of Suzaku," Taiitsukun said. Then she looked at Amiboshi, "and Seiryu," she added with a calming dignity. After this, both women turned their attentions to Ai. "Lead the way to the shrine for these people. Then prepare some tea and rice cakes for them. I believe they must be tired." Lady Kaede instructed. People of both groups nodded in agreement at the last comment. "B-but," Ai tried to protest. "No buts," the old priestess replied. "But they…" "Ai!" Taiitsukun scolded sternly, "You just met them and already some of their manners were rubbing off on you?" "G-gomen," Ai apologized, ashamed of her disrespectfulness. "Good. Now do as you are told."

They were now sitting very formally in a meeting room of some sort inside the shrine. The teacups were empty and there were only a few crumbs left in the rice cake plate. So far the two elders had remained silent, but not oblivious to the suspicious glances Ai shot at her guests.

"I think now that everyone had fulfilled their pleasures, we should began the discussion and explain what's going on." Taiitsukun began.

"Lady Kaede and I live in two separate worlds, as do you. Yet while they are different, they are very similar in their own way. Lady Kaede and I both watch over these two environments to the best of our abilities. But sometimes, there are certain things that cannot be accomplished by two old women. But thanks to you, those certain tasks were completed and thus the safety of the worlds were ensured." At this, she looked up and surveyed the room full of listeners. Some of her own warriors nodded, but an incompetent-looking young man in a red kimono, Inuyasha was his name, she recalled, merely gave out a "Feh".

The oracle ignored his "comment" and continued, "But however powerful you may be, your powers are not complete. In order to defeat the evils you encounter, you need a priestess, and her powers are essential to your success." While she paused, she noticed quite a few people from the both groups stirred uncomfortably at the mentioning of the word "priestess". However, she continued on, "But unfortunately, it's with great sadness that both priestesses had perished in their ventures. But, the gods and the souls of Those Who Came Before Us do not wish to see the worlds in pain. Instead the souls of the priestesses had been transported back fifteen years and reborn. Both of these two girls originally came from this world, so Kaede and I told you to look for them here, for the two worlds, as well as this one, are still in grave danger. This task is not as easy as it sounds, so Kaede and I also crossed over and temporarily taken residence in this shrine to assist in the matter. Our efforts were not spent in vain, as we both made a somewhat shocking discovery recently," she took a deep breath as she watched the listeners attention-focused faces, "we discovered that the souls of the two young priestesses have been reincarnated into the same body."

The room sank into a shocked silence; no one knew what to say. Finally, Tamahome blurted it out, "It- it's not possible! I've never heard a case where two souls have reincarnated into the same body." "There are many things you haven't heard of, Tamahome," the ancient oracle replied, "the events experienced by these two girls are so remarkably similar that they linked them together after death. Not only the experiences, but the hopes and fears of the two young priestesses were also very alike. Both of them considered themselves belong to this world while the people they cared about the most are in worlds different than theirs. They are at the same age, too. So it's only natural that they shared a bond. And the good news is, Kaede and I had found the reincarnation and took her in as our apprentice, and she is sitting in front of me right now."

Ai felt quite embarrassed as the focused glances of the strangers rested upon her for the third time. Her head is swirling. She felt that her brain is overloaded with information that she didn't need, nor want. She had often wondered about where her mysterious powers came from, but had never imagined something as wild as this. The reincarnation of two priestesses? And they came from this world too, just like her? Oh, what the, she didn't even know that there were worlds other than this one! But the idea did sound quite cool…

"Child! Are you even paying attention?" Taiitsukun's sharp voice took her out of her trance. "I'm sorry," she apologized, barely knew what she was saying. "Anyways," Taiitsukun continued, "after today's events, I know that the young priestess had discovered her powers long before we did. Though I'd say that she'd hidden it quite well for reasons unknown. I had detected her powers ever since I met her. But neither Kaede nor myself had known that it's this strong." She turned her head towards Ai, "But child, along with powers came obligations, and since you know about the legends of the four gods and the Sengoku Jidai…" "Well…" Ai dropped her head. "Well what, young lady?" Taiitsukun asked sharply. "Well, I didn't exactly pay attention when you and Lady Kaede taught me those stories." Ai confessed. "What! Why?" the oracle demanded in disbelief. "Well I didn't think it was important," then she added, "at the time." " Chichiri and the monk Miroku can explain it to you then," the oracle said tiredly. " But as I was saying, along with powers came obligations. Child, you possess those powers for a reason. You are a priestess; that you cannot deny. Priestesses have duties. In your case, you'll have to travel back in time and save the world from annihilation, working with people you don't know. Well at least in this lifetime. Are you up to it?"

Ai was silent for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and replied steadily, "Sure, I'll do it."

"Look," Inuyasha said impatiently, "are you really brave or are you just dumb? You think that a trip back to the feudal era is just a walk around the park. Well it's not. There are evil demons and equally as evil humans everywhere. It's not a decision to be made in a excited whim." "Though I don't know who the speaker is, nor do I agree with his choice of words, but I agree with him Priestess," Chichiri said. "Dangers and perils greet us everywhere we go, no da. And our enemies certainly are strong…"

"You guys are the ones who need to 'look'," Ai said, surprisingly angry. "I don't know if I'm brave, yet. But I do know that I don't consider myself 'dumb'. I know perfectly well what kind of danger awaits me; I have some imagination you know. And it's obvious that you all want me to go, and you all need me to go. It's not like I have any choice; the whole world, no, three worlds, are at the stake here. You don't expect me to turn around and run, do you? Fine, I'll think long and hard about it, fight my inner turmoil, perhaps even shed some tears, and after all that I'll still say 'yes'. I have one question though, the decision I make after a struggle with my emotions, and the clean-cut decision I make now, what difference does it make? And I said I'll do it, isn't it enough? What more do you people want?"

Everyone was speechless; they hadn't expected the girl to be so determined. Her being hesitant is exactly what they expected. Perhaps, Chichiri observed, it's just that they were afraid if she'll accept them or not. After all, they were very different people…

"Now," Lady Kaede said as she re-composed herself, "I believe it's time for the young lady to introduce herself."

Ai nodded. "My name is Ai Akimoto, hajimemashite."

A/N: When I said Kagome and Miaka have a lot of similarities, I didn't mean to say Kagome is a klutz. But they really are similar. If you have watched the first movie of Inuyasha, Kagome really did have a "Miaka moment". It involves Inu by the way.

_The name of the main character, Ai, means love in both Japanese and Chinese. But at the beginning, I intended for it to have a different Chinese character that means a kind of fragrant wild herb that was used to ward away demons. But I decided this one is cornier, but better._

_Her last name, Akimoto: Aki means autumn, moto means book. In Chinese the kanji for moto also means source._

_Hajimemashite means "nice to meet you." (yeah right)_

_Obaasan means "grandmother". (I like Lady Kaede, but Taiitsukun? Eww)_


	5. Obligations

Chapter Five, Obligations 

_Disclaimer: The usual. I'm a poor hobo who owns nothing, blah, blah, blah._

_A/N: Thanks a lot Silver Pain for your encouragement, you really taught me something! It flatters me to see that people are actually enjoying my work! _

_I got the solo part in my school's Christmas Musical and our volleyball team rocks! We won, uh huh, we won, uh huh…_

_I feel good._

_I'm still sugar-high from Halloween._

_Anyways, on with the story! (I wish I had a campfire)_

Ai swung her backpack over her shoulder, which wasn't easy. It was huge and weighed at least ten pounds, and that's 1/8 of her weight.

"Woa!" everyone exclaimed after they saw her backpack. "What are all these junk?" Inuyasha asked as he opened the backpack and looked inside. "Excuse me," Ai replied coolly, "to you this is junk. But to me, it's stuff." "So, What are these 'stuff'?" asked Nuriko. "Well, let's see," Ai began counting, "my clothes, my sleeping bag, my textbooks, a first aid kit, and don't forget about SNACKS." "We give up!" everyone fell over anime-style.

"Oh yeah, I brought gifts for everyone!" Ai said with her biggest smile. "So what's the catch, woman?" Tasuki narrowed his eyes. It was, after all, only a day after they met each other. And when they met each other, the young girl had not hesitated to ferociously attacking them. Ai just rolled her eyes, "Believe it or not, there is no catch. I just figured that if I have to work with you, I might as well be friends with you guys. Sounds fair?" "Fair enough to me!" Nuriko chanted in a singsong tone. "Okay now, let's see…" Ai was cut short by what she saw; Tamahome and Inuyasha were both digging through her backpack. "Found'em!" they both chanted happily. Inuyasha was holding a box of ramen and Tamahome was holding three pieces of gum. "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?" Ai yelled furiously, "Those are for ME!" She then ran towards a really scared Inuyasha and Tamahome.

Inuyasha and Tamahome sat on the ground, sulking. The dog hanyou had been sat ten times. That damned monk, he thought and he recalled that Miroku had ruthlessly told Ai about the necklace Lady Kaede "gave" him, and she appeared to have mastered its usage pretty well. Tamahome had a big bump on his head, and he was muttering something like "can't blame a guy for wanting to make some money…"

"This is for you, Sango," Ai said sweetly, ignoring Inuyasha and Tamahome's complaints. "Why, thank you," Sango said gratefully, "but what is it?" "It's the make-up people in my world use. I see that you like make-up, especially purple eye shadows. It'll look so good on you!" said Ai. "For Tasuki, I brought you some, um, drinks." "What? Ai, you are not supposed to do that," said Chichiri worriedly. "Oh relax Chichiri, I had to tell a lot of lies just to get that for him," said Ai, "but remember, Tasuki, it's only for REALLY special occasions." "Yay," Tasuki beamed, "booze from the other world!" "For Chichiri, a star-map. For Chiriko, books. For Shippo, candies. For…" "Hey, you've mentioned everyone else, but what do we get?" Inuyasha and Tamahome pouted after Ai had gave everybody their gifts. "You?" Ai said without even turning her head, "You get nothing." "Why?" Inuyasha asked. "Alright, I have something for you," Ai said, threw something at him. "A-a leash! Not fair!" Inuyasha shouted, but was cut short by a loud "sit". "So, what do I get, what do I get?" Tamahome asked excitedly as he hovered around Ai. "I truly have nothing for you because I would like my friends to keep their gifts, not to sell them as soon as they get it. But if you're interested, you can have some change I have in my jeans pocket." "Alright! I can make ten silver pieces with the money of the other world!" Tamahome beamed. "Is money all you care about?" Nuriko asked with a face on.

Finally, they were ready to go. Well, almost ready to go. "We are going to the feudal era, right?" asked Ai carefully. "Of course we are, you stupid girl. One would think that you should already know this by now," said Inuyasha. "Okay," said Ai. Then she fell silent as she hurried up to follow them. After they came to the well, Ai felt like she had to pop the question up. "I know we are going to the feudal era. But what I want to know is, which one?" Everybody stopped short; they had forgotten that there's only one priestess now, and it's not possible for a person to be in two different places at once, physically of course.

"Well you are coming with us. The shikon jewel is more important than some red chicken," said Inuyasha bossily. "Excuse me, but Suzaku is no 'chicken', and she's coming with us," said Tamahome. "No, she's coming with us," repeated Inuyasha. "I don't think so," said Tamahome. "You wanna fight?" challenged Inuyasha. "Yeah, bring it on!"

Tamahome tried to swing a punch, but Inuyasha jumped away. Miroku tried to stop them, but accidentally hit Tasuki in the head with his staff. The fire-haired seishi got really mad and started to shout "Lekka Shinen!" But the flames didn't hit Miroku but hit Tamahome instead. So Tamahome went to fight Tasuki, but they both went flying in the air fifty meters and hit the ground, hard, thanks to Nuriko. The abandoned Inuyasha was left there shouting, "Why aren't you fighting me you coward!"

After twenty minutes of total chaos, Ai decided it's time to interfere. "Um, it really flatters me to see that people want me so bad but, why don't you just flip a coin or something? That way it's fair to everybody."

Once again, everyone stopped short. "Hey it's a great idea! We call heads!" exclaimed Nuriko. So everyone, including a still pouting Inuyasha, gathered around in a big circle as Ai reached into her jeans pocket and took out a coin. She threw it in the air and let it land on the ground. Everyone leaned over to get a closer look. It's heads. "Woohoo! Oh yeah, I'm GOOD," said Nuriko happily. Inuyasha let out a "feh" but said nothing. Ai sweat-dropped as she recalled everyone's childish behavior during the last half an hour. If this is my "obligations," she thought, then I'm indeed in more than what I bargained for.

"Good-bye Inuyasha," said Ai. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes and said, "feh." Ai ignored him as she took out the scroll given to her by Taiitsukun. She opened it up, and instantly felt a warm red glow surrounding her and the celestial warriors. Ten seconds later, Ai felt as if she was being lifted into the air and the next thing she knew, she was traveling through the light and colors of the endless space between the two worlds.

A/N: I intended for this to be a short and light-hearted chapter. But there will be longer and more intense ones I promise.

_Oh yeah, I need help from my readers. I'm at a total loss for the pairing for Ai. This is an action/adventure but I would also like some modest and cute romance plus hints. I was going to do an Amiboshi-Tasuki-Ai triangle with hints from, well, a lot of people but somehow it just doesn't seem right. My personal favorites are (in alphabetical order): Amiboshi, Nuriko, and Tasuki. I also like Inuyasha, but this is a Fushigi Yugi fic. So what do ya think?_

_Also, I'm starting a survey: Ai has to travel to both ancient Japan and China with some pretty strange (but good looking) guys, and she does not look forward to putting up with their whims (not to mention perverted behavior). So do you think she's lucky or the girl with the worst luck EVER?_

_Personally I don't want to be in her shoes, but what do you think? _


	6. Suzaku

Chapter Six, Suzaku 

_Disclaimer: I currently have about 170 dollars. It's not enough to buy the characters of Inuyasha and Fushigi Yugi, so I'll just be content with buying comics, DVDs and posters instead._

"Ah, so this is the ancient China!" Ai exclaimed. She was standing on top of a high, grassy cliff, watching the land of Konan unfold before her eyes, slightly covered with a thin layer of silver mist. She could see everything, mountains, rivers, villages, and rice fields. _This feels so good_, she thought as she felt the gentle wind brushing her face, bringing the wetness of the cool morning dew, _I could've never done this in the city. _

"So, you like it?" asked Nuriko. "Are you kidding? I love it!" Ai said, beaming. "I was raised in a small town by the mountains, and it was beautiful like here. Then my parents divorced and we moved to Tokyo with my mom and brothers when I was about five years old. I always dreamed that one day I would go back to the mountains, to the wilderness, and to the friendly small town people. That's where I belong." "Yeah, Konan's okay," said Nuriko casually. Ai chuckled.

Nearby, Chichiri overheard this conversation and smiled behind his mask. Their miko seemed to like their world, now that's a good start.

Hotohori and Mitsukake came back, each leading several horses. "You are not s-serious, are ya? Horses?" Tasuki gulped. Though no one else noticed, he could've sworn that his horse grinned at him evilly. "Yes Tasuki, you have to ride a horse," said Hotohori, then he turned to Ai, "I'm sorry priestess, but you'll have to share a horse with someone. The stable only had seven horses left. Chiriko will be sharing with Mitsukake, Amiboshi, you get your own horse." The gentle seiryu seishi nodded. "I could take you, Priestess Ai," Tamahome gallantly offered, but Nuriko already hauled Ai up his horse. "Wow, you're strong!" Ai commented after she saw Nuriko lifting her up with one arm. "That was nothing," Nuriko shrugged, "So, are you comfortable?" Ai nodded, she was sitting in front of Nuriko, enveloped in his arms. "Okay, let's go! We must go back to Hotohori's palace before nightfall," said Chichiri. At this, Nuriko led his horse into a slow gallop.

The trip was enjoyable, most of the time. Ai made a lot of conversations with Nuriko. She knew that she liked Nuriko very much because she's very humorous and fun to be with; also she's the only female seishi in the group. _(Sakura: oh, you are gonna be VERY surprised priestess) _But, even though she's not familiar with traveling in Konan, Ai couldn't help but notice that they didn't make very good time. Part of this, okay all of this, was Tasuki's fault. He seemed to be in a power struggle with his horse. He got thrown off by the horse fifteen times. At the sixteenth time, Tasuki got mad and used his fire tessen, leaving a bald spot on the horse's head. He put one foot on the saddle triumphantly as he heard the horse whimper. The horse, however, was not as intimidated as he led Tasuki to believe. Soon, Tasuki was kneeling down with a hoof mark on his butt, begging. The horse chuckled evilly.

"Okay, that's it! Someone has to share with him," Chichiri said with finality when he saw that the horse made Tasuki carry **him**. "But the horse won't be able to bear two men, it's too heavy," said Tamahome. "Then I'll do it," Ai volunteered. "Are you sure you can handle it, wench?" asked Tasuki suspiciously. He threw the horse to the ground and got another hoof mark. "Well, anyone's better than you," said Ai matter-of-factly. She then jumped off Nuriko's horse and swung herself up Tasuki's expertly. "Tasuki, hold on to my waist," she instructed, " 'Cause ready or not, here we go!" at this, she kicked the horse into a full gallop. "Whoa!" exclaimed Tasuki. Ai held firm to the rein, the horse obeyed her every command without protests. _It's so good to be riding a horse again_, she thought as she heard the wind zooming past her. In all her excitement, she never heard Nuriko's sulking complaint: "Thanks a lot, Tasuki. You just have to go and ruin it."

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

Tomo stood on the top of a stony cliff, watching the small band of people on horsebacks. He noticed that they were enjoying the ride. "They won't enjoy it any longer," he chuckled softly, "The traitor, the Suzaku scums, and their precious priestess will die!" He was just about to jump down when something caught his eye; a band of ruffians were approaching the company. _Perfect,_ he thought, _a distraction just makes it all better._

"We'll rest for a while," Chichiri said to everyone after about an hour of journeying. Ai eagerly jumped off the horse after Tasuki had (somewhat reluctantly) let go of her waist. Nuriko immediately approached her, "Want to sit with me?" "Sure," Ai said as they both made way under a looming tree.

"So, how's the ride with Tasuki?" asked Nuriko casually. "It's okay, I rode horses a lot when I lived in the country side. I haven't in a long time so I was really enjoying it and didn't pay any attention to Tasuki," Ai replied. "Is that so? But I bet you would've had a much better time with me," remarked Nuriko. Ai smiled, "I guess so." Nuriko grinned, just when he was about to say something, a strong arm grabbed Ai from behind the tree.

"Ai, are you okay?" Nuriko called out as he swung around. He saw a group of ruffians, each carrying some sort of weapon. One of them held tightly a struggling young girl. "Oh no you don't!" said Nuriko as his seishi mark glowed. And with a growl, he lifted the man up and threw him into a nearby tree.

"Nuriko, what's wrong?" Tamahome asked as he and the rest of the seishis hurried over. "Thanks Nuriko, I'll take it from here," said Ai as she picked herself off the ground. "What?" Nuriko was puzzled. Without answering, Ai ran towards the ruffians. "You are going down," she said as she knocked each of them down punches and kicks. "Now that's a workout," Ai said as she rubbed her hands together, not noticing the gasps and stares behind her. "S-she is good," muttered Tamahome.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Hotohori. The seishis and their miko nodded. "Yeah we're okay. But is it just me or did the sky just turned black?" said Tasuki. Indeed, a fleet of dark, ominous clouds suddenly covered up the entire sky.

Just when everyone was wondering what's going on, they heard a soft chuckle coming from behind them. "Tomo!" Amiboshi realized. "What ails you traitor? You don't deserve to call my name," Tomo smirked. "Let me finish this clown face off, Lekka Shinen!" cried Tasuki as he shot flames towards Tomo with his iron fan. "Is that all you're capable of?" said Tomo calmly as he gracefully dodged the flames. "Damn it!" Tasuki swore. "I believe it's time to spice things up a little, don't you agree?" Tomo then took out one of his seashells and flicked it open. And then, out of no where, a gigantic tidal wave appeared and was rushing towards them, making thunderous noise that could intimidate even the bravest of warriors. "I hate WATER!" yelled Tasuki, he was running at super speed. Still, it wasn't fast enough. Soon a giant wave splashed down on him and swallowed him. "Tasuki!" yelled Nuriko. "Oh no, we're all gonna be under water soon!" shouted Tamahome urgently. "But the tidal wave can't be real," reasoned Ai. "No it's not," explained Chiriko, "he was using his 'shin', or shells to create an illusion." "An illusion… I know!" Ai suddenly remembered the bow and arrows she saw the ruffians carry, yes, it will work. She rushed towards where the ruffians were a few moments ago. She was running as fast as she could, knowing that she must get to it before the water reaches it.

"Ai, what are you doing?" yelled Nuriko, "Come back here!" "Too late," said Tamahome, " 'cause here comes the water." The huge wall of water sped towards them at impossible speed. It was at least ten stories high. The roaring of the waves was thunderous and deafening. It sounded like the growling of a ferocious beast before it strikes down and makes the kill. Any seconds now…

"Break through the illusion!" Ai commanded as she shot her arrow. As it flew, a reddish-pink light surrounded it. The arrow landed right on the tip of the tidal wave. The red light began to spread and suddenly, with a burst of sacred energy, the illusion disappeared.

"Whew, that was close," sighed Tasuki, all of a sudden dry. The dark clouds disappeared and the sun began to shine again like nothing's happened before. "Good work, Ai!" Nuriko complimented, "If it's not for you, we're all goners." "Where did you learn to do that?" asked Tamahome curiously. "It's the Priestess's sacred arrow," explained Ai, "it can break through any spell, barrier, and illusion." "Wow, it's amazing," said Chiriko, deeply awed. Even with his knowledge, he had never heard anything quite like it before. However, their rejoicing was cut short by Tomo's soft chuckling. "Suzaku scums, you might have won this time but you don't have a chance against Master Nakago! Especially when," he paused, looking at Ai, "especially when Suzaku's powers are banished!" He then disappeared into thin air, but his chuckles still echoed through the air.

"That bastard!" Tasuki swore. "Is it true?" asked Ai. "Is what true?" asked Nuriko. "The part he said about Suzaku. Is he really banished?" Everyone fell silent. "Yes, Suzaku's powers had been banished by Seiryu, Kutou's god," answered Chichiri gravely. "But we still have our powers. Taiitsukun suspects that Suzaku had kept some of his powers in a sacred object, untouched by Seiryu, in order to let us keep our constellation powers and protect Konan. As for where or what the object is, we don't know. But we must get it before the enemy does!"

For the rest of the trip everyone was disheartened and paranoid. Tasuki even jumped at the sight of squirrels. And when they finally reached the imperial palace of Konan, everyone was eager to go off to bed. Ai gulped down a few spoonful of hot soup and hurried to her room.

She loved her room at first sight. It was Chinese style and had intricate wooden carvings everywhere, especially on the frame of the big window that faced the moonlit garden. Soft curtains hung by the window and around her bed, gently swaying in the wind. By the red wood table there were a few shoots of bamboo, standing gracefully. There was also a jasmine plant on the wooden stand, filling the room with the sweet, enchanting scent of its delicate white flowers. Everything in the room, from the furniture to the painting and calligraphy that hung on the wall, looked peaceful and serene.

Ai washed herself using the water in a big china bowl. She then used the leftover water to water the plants. She changed into a light purple, kimono-like robe and then blew out the candle, leaving the room in darkness.

Ai lied on her soft bed, thinking about how quiet it was. Back in Tokyo there were sounds even in the middle of the night. Electrical hums of the refrigerator, cars from the streets, but now she could hear nothing except for the soft singing of night birds and crickets. Their music was comforting, as was the silver moonlight. Ai was feeling very peaceful and soon, the exhaustion overcame her and she fell into a cozy slumber.

Ai was floating through the space between the two worlds. It was a strange feeling. She was floating but not on water, and bubbles of colors and twinkles of light floated beside her. All around she could see nothing but reddish colors and light, the space seemed to stretch on and on. Ai could even feel sparks of electricity running through her skin and hair, giving her a tingling feeling.

Where am I? She questioned, what am I doing here?

"Priestess," a deep voice echoed through the time and space. "Priestess," it boomed again. "Who are you?" Ai panicked, swung around. "Don't be frightened, I won't hurt you," the voice said. Ai then saw an extravagantly dressed man with bright red hair and red wings. Although he appeared to be young, his face showed wisdom so deep only time could bring. And there was a soft red glow around him, making him almost, god-like.

"Suzaku," Ai breathed. "Yes, I am the god of love, fire, and summer, Suzaku," the young man said, "and I have something for you that you must guard with your life." Although his voice was steady and calm, he sounded a bit weak. "My time with you is limited, it took me great strength to see you in your dream. As you know, I have been banished by my brother god Seiryu. But I have kept a small portion of my powers in one my feathers to sustain the Suzaku seishis. I hope that one day they will save Konan, with the help of you." The bird god looked at Ai, "I cannot hide the feather from Seiryu any longer, I must give it to you." Suzaku held out his hand, and a flame-red feather held by a string appeared in his palm. "Guard it," he said, "protect it and it will protect you." Ai took the feather from his palm and grasped it firmly in her hand. "I will," she said solemnly. "Also, find the Sacred Jewel." "What?" Ai blurted out, thinking she heard it wrong. "Find the Sacred Jewel," repeated Suzaku, his figure already fading, "and unite it with the feather, then the Sacred Amulet will be complete." "The Sacred Jewel? Shikon No Tama?" asked Ai. "Find the jewel," Suzaku said, his voice now sounded distant, "create the Sacred Amulet, for the enemies have united…" Suzaku disappeared, his voice echoed then faded. Suddenly Ai felt the world spinning around her, with a scream, she found herself sat upright in her bed, panting for breath.

"So it's a dream?" she asked herself, then felt the still warm feather in her sweaty palm. Okay, maybe not. "Find the Sacred Jewel, the enemies have united…" she thought over Suzaku's words, then a realization dawned her, "Ah, does it mean that…" Ai gasped at the ominous thought.

A/N: Do you like this chapter? When I first wrote it, I have no idea where it's going. I just let my imagination takes me. And now it's finished, I think it's not so bad.

_For your FYI, the description of mountains and countryside came from my own experiences. I used to live in the mountains then I moved to a big city. As for her room, it just came to me very clearly, I don't know why. And for the jasmine, I love jasmine. I used to have one and I loved it, I cared for it everyday. Then I moved to Canada two years ago and I have to give it to one of my close friends. I hope she takes care of it well._

_I also dreamed of riding horses and doing archery. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to horses and I haven't gotten the chance to shoot arrows yet, how sad._

_As for the Nuriko gender thing, I know it's confusing but don't blame me. Blame Watase-sensei._


	7. Alliance

**Chapter Seven, Alliance**

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, so leave me alone. _

_To Anime Gurl (anonymous): Thanks for the criticism. I know it's a fast-paced story. I will try to slow down a little in the future chapters in order to give the readers more insight on my characters._

_Also, I'm really sorry for the long wait. I've been feeling lazy lately._

Inuyasha was pacing back and forth beside the hut that harbored the Bone-Eater's Well inside. It had already been a whole day since she'd gone, what could possibly have taken her so long? He was just about to give up waiting when suddenly he saw a brilliant red light appeared in front of him. At first, he could only see blurry shadows moving about inside the light but eventually, the shadows came into focus and became clear. It's them all right, he thought, partly relieved, partly annoyed. A few seconds later, the red light dissolved and before him, was Priestess Ai and the group of people who called themselves her "constellation protectors".

"What took you so long?" Inuyasha demanded impatiently. "Relax Inuyasha," Ai snapped back, "it's only a day. Besides, I've got important news." "Yeah yeah," Inuyasha just smirked. Ai chose to ignore that, "Where are Miroku and Sango?" "We are here, Ai. Nice to see you again," Sango greeted as she came out of the shrine building, followed by Miroku. "Um, Sango, have you noticed that Miroku's been BEHIND you all this time?" asked Inuyasha carefully. "YOU PERVERT!" Sango slapped Miroku just as she felt his hand lightly "massaging" her rear. Inuyasha sweat-dropped while Ai criticized, "Miroku, that's wrong you know."

Chichiri watched the whole scene unfold before his eyes and felt that it's time to get down to business, he cleared his throat, "Sorry to interrupt Priestess but I think it's time we tell them what's going on." "Oh yeah, right, gomen," apologized Ai quickly. It's long story so we better sit down and talk. But we have to tell Lady Kaede and Taiitsukun, too."

Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Ai, the two elders, along with everyone else sat down on the pavement while Ai told them her story. After she's finished, there was an anxious silence. Everyone present knew what this could mean, but they were all afraid to admit it. Finally, Lady Kaede broke the silence, "If this is true, then we must take action. I believe that it's our destiny to work together to save all three worlds. It's possible that the gods have known the Shikon Jewel for a long time and have planned for this. If the enemies have really united, then we must unite as well." Everyone nodded in agreement except Inuyasha. "Well?" Ai demanded. "Well what?" said Inuyasha grumpily. "You know what!" scowled Ai angrily. "YOU might be under obligation but I never said anything about working for a scarlet chicken! The jewel should be used to make me a full demon instead of being put on a stupid necklace!" Inuyasha shouted. "I can't believe you Inuyasha, how selfish can you be?" Ai stared at him incredulously. "Feh," Inuyasha turned his head, "although I don't want to, I never said anything about not doing it." "Inuyasha," Ai said in her sweetest voice. "Huh?" Inuyasha turned to face her hopefully. "SIT!"

**_HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_ **

Of the eight seishis, four decided to travel along with them. They are: Amiboshi, Nuriko, Tasuki, and Chichiri. Hotohori had to go back to Konan in order to fulfill his emperor duties and Chiriko was to help him. Tamahome went back to visit his family's graves because it's the one-year anniversary of their death. Mitsukake heard a plague was haunting several villages in northeast Konan and went to help. Unfortunate for Ai, he took the cute kitty Tama with him.

Lady Kaede also went with them, considering that it's almost rice-harvesting season and the safety of the village and their crops were most likely to be in danger. Ai was very eager about the trip; she wanted to see the feudal Japan and meet Shippo.

One by one they jumped into the well, except for Kaede. She went down the ladder carefully, muttering something like "an old woman cannot jump up and down with you young folks".

Ai was equally as excited to explore when she arrived at the feudal Japan as when she's in ancient China. She found them very similar and she loved them both. Well, anything's better than the noisy Tokyo, she thought.

The seishis, on the other hand didn't find the feudal Japan much different from their own world, except for people like Nuriko who grew up in cities and palaces, but the two worlds were basically the same. Deep forests, green hills, meandering streams, and peaceful villages, everything seemed familiar. But of course, they knew that this world, like their own, was struggling against war, famine, and evil creatures such as demons. They had been listening when the monk named Miroku gave Ai the info needed. However, they too, were eager to explore.

"Hey Chichiri, I want to take a walk with Ai you wanna come?" asked Nuriko cheerfully. "No," Chichiri said, looked longingly at the quietness of the woods, "I just found a good spot to think, no da." Nuriko shook his head at him then walked off. Tasuki and Amiboshi were already gone. That left Chichiri alone, just like he wanted.

Chichiri sat down on the soft grass beside the old well. All was silent except the chirping of the birds and the soft whisperings of the slightly blowing wind. It's early morning and the forest was still covered with a thin veil of silver mist. His companions were all out of sight, especially Tasuki. Perfect.

Chichiri breathed deeply of the fresh, dew-scented air and began to clear his mind of idle thoughts. As much as he wanted to meditate, he must think things through first. It's obvious that everyone was afraid of what's to come, for they never mentioned the specifics as to how the enemies were united or even who the enemies were. Of course, they could only be Naraku and Nakago, but no one dared to mention that. Naraku must equally as strong an enemy, if not stronger, as Nakago. If they should unite... Chichiri suddenly became alarmed, does that mean we don't have a chance anymore?

Chichiri became aware of the sound of footsteps coming towards him. He turned around, and was glad that it was Miroku, the monk from the other group. "So, Chichiri is it? Nice to see you here!" Miroku greeted cheerfully. "Have you come to think, as well?" Chichiri asked. "Yes, I have," Miroku answered, his expression suddenly became serious and grave. "We have a serious situation in our hands and Inuyasha the hot head won't even think about a strategy! It's frustrating." Chichiri laughed, "That's exactly what I feel sometimes, no da. They think we monks think too much and are too philosophical, no da." "Is Nakago a strong opponent?" asked Miroku, suddenly brought on the subject. "Yes, no da. And I assume Naraku is, too, no da?" "Very much so. He's powerful, cunning, and manipulative." Chichiri suddenly became interested, "Did you say manipulative?" "Yes I did," answered Miroku, "he likes to hide in his castle laden with barriers, using others to do his dirty work. Inuyasha, Kagome, and Sango have all been used. He's completely ruthless and would not hesitate to slaughter an entire village to lure us in. He even killed all of Sango's kinsmen," Miroku said darkly. Chichiri became even more worried, "This Naraku person resembles Nakago much more than I had expected. It seems that they have a ton of similar traits. Should the two unite...I hate to admit it but our future seems grim." "Not necessarily," Miroku said, hiding a sly smile. Chichiri grew even more interested. "The enemies are alike," explained Miroku, "perhaps too much alike. They will not be loyal to each other. True, destroying us is their top priority, and thus they tend to use each other, not really uniting. Sooner or later they have to deal with each other. Should one prevail, the other will fall." Miroku's usual light-hearted grin returned after he spoke these words, "Anyway it's nice to have an intelligent conversation again. Inuyasha's just too dumb. See ya!" And with that he walked away. Chichiri watched him go, sincerely hoping that what he said about the enemies are right.

**_OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO _**

Ai was walking on the forest trail, enjoying being alone. She recognized many flowering herbs as she went along. The morning mist was thin, but it gave the forest a mysterious appearance. Here and there a sliver of sunlight broke through, reflecting on the morning dew, making the grass looked like they were covered with shiny pearls.

A moment before Nuriko was with her, and they enjoyed each other's company. But then Tasuki came out of nowhere and started making fun of Nuriko. Nuriko got so annoyed that she chased after him, shouting something like "I'll smash you into a tree." Soon, they were out of sight. Ai chuckled as she thought about them.

Ai kept strolling along. She was entranced in the scenery around her. The morning woods, covered in dew, had a fresh yet mysterious beauty to it no words could describe. Yet it was evident in everything that comes into sight. From the chirping birds and squirrels that hid high in the trees, to the green grass and their delicate flowers that gently swayed in the wind. She could feel a tune of a flute dancing in the air, harmonizing with the surroundings. For a long time she watched and listened, not realizing that the music was real. She thought the tune was merely a pleasant illusion caused by the forest's beauty. Eventually, she became aware that someone's playing a flute. Amazed, she hurried towards the music's source.

Amiboshi sat serenely under an elm tree, his fingers moving gracefully along the flute he held near his mouth. The music flew out smooth as water as he gently blew into the flute. He was so entranced in his music that a long time passed before he realized that he had an audience.

"Oh, Ai. Hi," he smiled sheepishly. Ai suddenly snapped out of her trance. "Oh, hi. I hope you don't mind me eavesdropping like this," she said hurriedly. To her horror, she realized that she'd been blushing slightly. She had never blushed before. Snap out of it, she commanded herself. "You are not eavesdropping so don't feel guilty," said Amiboshi. "You play so beautifully," Ai complimented. "Thanks," Amiboshi smiled shyly, "I tried to put my feelings of the forest in a song." "I can see that," Ai nodded. "The music was peaceful and serene with a slight touch of liveliness in it. The airy, fresh sound of the flute really shows the mysterious atmosphere of the forest. At first I didn't even notice that it's real music. I thought it's an illusion the forest played on my mind.

At the time, your music was not merely "music" describing the forest anymore, it became part of the forest."

Amiboshi blushed at the high compliments, at the same time surprised at Ai's understanding. Without a word, he placed the bamboo flute by his mouth again and started another song. This song, too, was about the forest. But this time it's much more lively. Ai could make out the sounds and movements of squirrels, birds, and bugs in the song. She could also hear in the song the whispers of the wind, the dripping dew, and the soft sounds of leaves brushing against each other. As the music started to flow, the forest suddenly came to life.

They sat there for a long time. He played and she listened. They didn't speak a word, for they don't need words. It's as if the music opened both their hearts to each other and they could understand each other's thoughts without speaking. Although they didn't speak to each to other much, Ai felt that this was the most interesting conversation she'd ever had.

They both snapped out of their trance when they heard someone's angry shouting. Inuyasha, Ai thought, duh on that one. And then, out of nowhere, a boy in a red kimono jumped in front of her.

"How can you have time for dates at a time like this? I thought you wanted to find the jewel shards." Inuyasha shouted angrily at Ai, his face had a slightly sour expression. "I still do," answered Ai calmly, "and it's not a 'date'. I just happen to stumble across a friend during a stroll, that's all." "Oh, is that so?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically. He was just about to make a "funny" remark when he noticed that Ai had already pushed past him and walked down the path.

Amiboshi watched those two shouting at each other as they disappeared down the path with a slight amusement. He sat there for a while, then started to leave himself. Ai is the only one who understands me other than Miaka, he thought. A smile came to his face.

_**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**_

Nakago sat in a splendidly decorated tent. His body was covered in a shinny and elegant armor. He stared randomly at the tent opening as he sat silently, slightly frowning. Suddenly, his vision became focused and his face alert. He sensed something approaching. And then, out of the thin air a man covered in a baboon suit appeared.

"Naraku," said Nakago quietly, "you are late."

"Yes. But breaking through the barrier between two worlds is difficult, you know. Even for someone with powers such as mine," answered Naraku, equally as calm.

"I hope this time you have come in person, not just some demon puppets."

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Naraku chuckled as he tore off the baboon suit, revealing to Nakago that he's a tall man with long wavy black hair, wearing no armor but the loose garments of a feudal lord. Nakago was not in the least surprised when he saw that the other man's face was equally as cunning and evil as his own.

_A/N: I know, it's a long and boring chapter. But it's beautiful between Ai and Amiboshi, ne?_


	8. When Koga Meets Tasuki

**Chapter Eight, When Koga Meets Tasuki**

_Author's Notes _

_Judging from the title you should know it's a fun and special chapter! _

_Oh yeah, I picked out some music for my story just for fun. I think they would be really cool as background music on intense parts or emotional parts, ya know? Only if I can upload them!_

_To Miakatama86: Truth to be told, I seriously thought about pairing her up with Nuriko but decided against it. Ai can be understanding when she wants to but in the later chapters, you will see a fierce and dark side of her. So watch out boiz! Ai isn't exactly Miss Peace Love and Understanding you know! Inuyasha and Fushigi Yugi tend to have a helpless miko stereotype and I intend to break it! I'm a big feminist! _

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO **

They traveled towards the mountains without rest during the morning. Ai had sensed the faint presence of a jewel shard in that direction. Naraku now possessed most of the shikon jewel and the shards were now scarce. However, this discovery made no improvements towards Inuyasha's sulking mood.

At noon they stayed for lunch beside a small river. The water was cool and clear, it danced happily as it meandered towards the mountains that stood from afar. A few clouds floated in the clear blue sky as the wind gently blew, promising a gorgeous day. Nuriko, Tasuki, and Miroku caught fish and now they were merrily barbecuing the fish over a small fire.

"Say, Inuyasha, doesn't this valley look a little familiar to you?" asked Miroku as he examined the landscape. "All mountain valleys look familiar," muttered Inuyasha grumpily. Miroku recognized the "I'm-in-a-foul-mood" tone and instantly shut up. Meanwhile, Ai and Sango had become fast friends. They were talking non-stop and totally ignored the miserable boys.

After lunch, they continued on their way. Ai felt a little uneasy as she sensed the shards stronger and stronger. It's not because we are getting closer to them, she thought, rather it's they that are closing in on us, and fast. Inuyasha's ears suddenly pricked up and he sniffed the air attentively. "What is it, Inuyasha?" Sango asked. Instead of answering, he turned to Miroku, "I think you are right about one thing, Monk. We have been to this valley before. It stinks with the smell of wolves." "WOLVES!? You don't mean…" Miroku jumped in shock. "Yes, I'm afraid so. We are now in the territory of Koga," said Inuyasha grimly.

"Koga? Who's that?" asked Ai with interest. "Why don't you see for yourself?" Inuyasha replied, pointing to a small cyclone that flew towards them at impossible speed, hurling dust and rocks up into the air. Suddenly it stopped right in front of them and out walked a tall young man with sharp features and long black hair he tied up in a ponytail. "Who dare to trespass into my territory?" the young man demanded with authority. "No one wants to trespass into your stinkin' wolf den Koga. Besides, I go where ever I want," Inuyasha smirked at him. The young man frowned at the sight of the arrogant half demon, " It's you again, mutt." Inuyasha's face turned a few shades of angry red, "I'll show you who's the mutt here!" he said as launched at his opponent, "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" Koga merely jumped away and sneered at his attack, "Very amusing, half-breed." "Damn," Inuyasha swore under his breath.

Ai watched attentively at the battle that had unfolded before her eyes. She could see it clearly now: the boy named Koga had three shards, one on each leg and one on his left arm. What powers could he possibly obtain from the jewel shards? However, her thoughts had been cut short as Koga rested his eyes on her. _(Sakura: here we go again)_ Ai watched suspiciously as Koga walked towards her. She was almost surprised when Koga put his arms around her waist. Almost. "I can't believe that you are still following that 'Inu-trasha'. But you are going to be much happier with me, my woman." After that, he swung Ai off her feet and carried her off at super speed. Nuriko cast a glance at Tasuki, "Fang-Boy, I thought that's your department." Ai heard it and almost laughed out loud, but she had more important business in hand. What did I do last time this happened to me? Right…

Five minutes later, Koga was out cold from the blow Ai gave him at the base of his skull. The group members all rushed towards him and saw Ai standing triumphantly over the wolf demon's unconscious body. "Did you use that attack again?" asked Tasuki. "Yep," Ai nodded smugly, "works every time." Tasuki shuddered.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO **

It was twenty minutes later when Koga finally came to. He was confused at first: one minute he was carrying his woman on his back and the next minute… All he could remember was a sharp pain on his neck. After another five minutes of searching through his memory, he came to this conclusion. "Inuyasha, what did you do to me you mutt!?" Inuyasha merely shrugged, "I didn't do nothin'. It was all her," he pointed at Ai. "What?" Koga grew even more confused, "my woman would never do that to me. Right Kagome dear?" Ai cleared her throat, "First, I'm not your woman. And second, you are mistaken, I'm not Kagome." Now Koga felt his head was about to burst, "Inuyasha, what did you do to my Kagome? She's delusional!" At this, everyone rolled his (or her) eyes, including Shippo. "I think it's time to fill him in," Miroku suggested.

After ANOTHER twenty minutes of explaining, Koga finally got it. At first, he announced that he's very sad about Kagome (to which Inuyasha replied with a 'Feh' and turned his head away) and then he turned his head to Ai. "Milady, any woman who could beat me deserves my respect. I apologize for the confusion, therefore I now swear allegiance to you and all your friends, even the mutt. All my wolf clan will assist you on your quest." Ai was speechless. "Thank you," she finally managed to blurt it out, "but who are you again?" "I'm Koga, the leader of the wolf demon tribe, at your service" Koga grinned, showing Ai his long canines. Creepy, Ai thought.

Koga invited them to rest at the valley where the wolf tribe resided in. Inuyasha strongly apposed but followed along. After nearly two hours of journeying and climbing, they suddenly found themselves in a lovely green valley with a spectacular waterfall. The water dropped from the top of the cliff into a small lake, with a rainbow hung at its waist. Ai felt like she's in paradise. "Wow, nice place you got there, Koga," she complimented heartily. "Heh, I don't see what's so nice 'bout this stinkin' den," Tasuki suddenly spoke up, "Ain't half as good as ol' Mount Leikaku." Koga turned his head around, surprise at the insult. He then scrutinized Tasuki from head to toe. Tasuki met his glare, head held high and his mouth cocked to one side to form a smirk. Ai sensed the obvious tension between them and quickly broke the awkward silence, "Oh, I haven't introduced you guys yet. Koga, this is Tasuki and Tasuki, you already know Koga's name." Koga didn't even get his eyes off Tasuki, "So, Tasuki is it? I bet you ain't half as tough as your talk." Tasuki wanted to reply, but Ai immediately cut him off. "Well, you too might have more in common than you think. For example, you are both gang leaders, both arrogant (Koga and Tasuki: Hey) and you both have speed as one of your powers. But most importantly, you both have fangs! I mean, how usual is that!" "I have fangs," Inuyasha chimed in. "SHUT UP! Can't you see I'm trying to get somewhere with these two?" Ai hissed at him. "You know what, I think she's right," Koga said slowly "we are similar." "Yeah, maybe a little TOO similar," Tasuki agreed. "You know, there's just not enough room for two bandit leaders in one mountain, so…" Koga stared at Tasuki challengingly, leaving off the rest of the sentence. "Are ya on for a lil' one on one?" the fire-haired bandit finished the sentence off. "Yup, Ai, I could see that you paired them up real good. I can sense, no smell, the chemistry here," Inuyasha commented sarcastically. "Just shut up," Ai gave him a death glare, she could feel a headache coming on.

Tasuki and Koga faced each other, each with a challenging glare on his face. Both of them could feel their adrenaline rushing through their bodies as they prepared to fight. The tense silence became almost unbearable until Koga started the fight. He rushed towards Tasuki, the jewel shards glowed on his legs, giving him the power of super speed. The audiences were stunned, but Tasuki, who had the same power, merely assumed his battle stance and focused on his opponent. "Rekka Shinen!" Tasuki took out his tessen seconds before Koga's fist connected with his face and shot out burning flames. "What?" Koga couldn't believe his eyes, but he jumped aside in time. "You know, for a human, you are pretty strong. But you won't last long. Remember, you are facing off a demon!" Tasuki merely smirked at Koga's comment, "So what if you are a demon? I can still kick your butt!" "Why you…" Koga growled, baring his teeth. Tasuki's last remark had agitated him. "Now, it's time ta spice things up a bit!" Tasuki grinned, holding pieces of papers in between his fingers, "play with my boys!" With that he threw the paper pieces up the air and they all transformed into snarling wolves. "What?" Koga was stunned, "you can summon wolves?" Tasuki ignored him and grinned smugly. "If he is allowed to summon back-up," Koga said slyly, "then so can I! A-wooooooooooooooo!" Koga howled. Then, silently and mysteriously, grey shadows of wolves appeared, phantom-like, all around the mountain tops. "It's your boys Vs my boys. May the best wolves win," Koga grinned at Tasuki.

At the command of Koga a small band of wolves rushed down the hillside. They formed a circle around Tasuki and his wolves, completely surrounding them. Koga waved his hand, gesturing them to attack. The wolves immediately obeyed. They sprinted towards Tasuki's wolves and began to fight ferociously. Tasuki's wolves fought back. They snarled, slashed, and tore at each other, not one beast hesitated to bite at its enemy's throat. The battle went on for about five minutes and eventually Koga's wolves gained the upper ground, they tore Tasuki's wolves into pieces. As soon as their throats had been slit, Tasuki's wolves disappeared. The only traces of their existence left were white, tore-up pieces of paper that scattered on the ground. "I see, it's only an illusion. I guessed you weren't so tough now, uh?" Koga said, grinning victoriously. "Wrong again," Tasuki's voice boomed behind him, "the wolves are only illusions to distract you! Rekka Shinen!" "Damn!" Koga swore under his breath. He tried to jump away, but it was too late, he got a full hit and was burnt to a crisp. "The best wolf did win," grinned Tasuki, his tessen rested on his shoulder, "and his name is Genrou."

_Woohoo! Go Tasuki! For you Koga fans out there, he didn't die so don't worry. He's just burnt like Tamahome. I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter! Cuz I sure enjoyed writing it. I mean, Tasuki and Koga are like, so similar. A couple of similarities I didn't list in the chapters are: they both have potty mouths, they both have rivals (Koga and Inuyasha, Tasuki and Tamahome), and not to mention they both like to carry off priestesses. Lol._

_After this chapter the story won't be as light-hearted. It's already Chapter Eight and I still haven't got the story on track! I was quite disappointed actually. I really need to think things through and stop being so messed-up!_


	9. Cave

**Chapter Nine, Cave**

Despite the tension, the two bandit leaders did not fight again, thank goodness. But there was a really awkward moment between Inuyasha, Tasuki, and Koga right after the leader of the wolf demon tribe told Ai about a demon that possessed a jewel shard who lived not far from this mountain valley. Ai had gotten very excited and thanked Koga up and down, which, for some reason, caused Inuyasha and Tasuki to look at him really funny. This, of course, and caused further delay in their mission to seek jewel shards. Ai sighed, _note to self, canines are sometimes more temperamental than cats. Never own a dog. _

Chichiri gazed anxiously towards the sun, which was slowly sinking towards the west. Although it's not even near the dusk, he's still worried. What if the demon was hard to find or slay? It wouldn't be a good idea to engage into battle after dark. "I think we should get going, no da. We have to get the jewel shard before the sun sets, no da," he reminded the group. Koga and Inuyasha immediately followed after him, Tasuki was reluctant but he dragged along. Unknown to the others, Ai fell back on purpose and walked beside Miroku. She looked at Koga with a funny expression on her face. "What's the matter priestess?" asked Miroku. "Oh, it's just Koga," Ai answered slowly. "Miroku, you know him longer than I do so tell me, can we really trust him? I know he said the whole thing about allegiance but he's a demon too, and he's already using jewel shards to gain power and speed, so would he really help us to get the Shikon shards?" Miroku thought for a moment, "I think it's an excellent question Ai. I thought about it myself, but I think we have no choice but to trust him. He may be a demon but I don't think he sank so low as to trick us. Besides, there are so many of us. If he ran away with the shard we'll just get it back from him." "Thanks Miroku," Ai said, the weight in her chest slowly lifting.

They journeyed along the mountain pass for a while, so far without mishap. Ai and Sango traveled side by side, making conversations about the feudal era. Ai was very eager to know about their way of life and Sango was very willing to explain it. Ai became very proud of herself when she observed that Sango added glitter to her usual purple eye shadows, no doubt that she used the makeup from the modern era. The conversations stopped, however, when the path beneath their feet suddenly became narrow and treacherous. Ai now realized that they were no longer traveling on the broad road along side the mountains but on a stony path that led up to the mountain cliff. Daringly, Ai stole a peek over the edge of the mountain path. To her surprise, they were already at the waist of the mountain. She could see the trees, grasslands, and twisting rivers of the valley below her, looking small and distant. Frail bushes and grass clung stubbornly to the mountainsides, if somehow she should fall, they would be the only things that would keep her from plundering to her death down in the valley below… The moment this thought evaded her brain Ai could feel fear growing inside her. Her palms grew cold and clammy, her brain became foggy all of a sudden and her head began to swirl. Suddenly, she stepped on a loose rock and slipped, stumbling towards the edge. Only then did she realize that her lack of concentration could put her in danger. Just when she was about to scream out, Ai felt an arm pulling her back to safety. The momentum swung her forward, causing her to hit something. Seconds after she realized that it was someone's chest. "You should be careful you know," a soft voice said, "when walking on a mountain pass, never look down. It'll make even the bravest and most experienced climber dizzy and afraid." Ai looked up and saw the face of Amiboshi, he was holding a protective arm around her shoulder. Suddenly he realized how close they were, he blushed and jumped away. "Are you ready to walk now?" Ai nodded, feeling angry towards herself for forgetting one of the most important rules in mountain climbing. Maybe she stayed in the city too long, she was forgetting the Way of the Mountain.

When the weary travelers reached the boulder beneath the cliff, Koga stopped them. "We have arrived at the monster's lair," he announced, "the cave is just behind the boulder. Now all we need is someone with great strength to remove it." "Or someone with a sword that can slice it to bits," Inuyasha grinned, unsheathing his Tetsusaiga. "No need, Inuyasha," Nuriko suddenly spoke up, "you'll disturb the demon this way. Just leave it to me." Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the girlish seishi, distrusting his abilities. But nevertheless, he stepped aside. Nuriko adjusted the golden bracelets that Taiitsukun had given him, praying for strength. Ai became a little uneasy when she noticed that Nuriko was as pale as the newly fallen snow. She remained silent as she watched the purpled-haired seishi stretched out her arms around the boulder and began to slowly lift it. The bracelets glowed, surrounding her (him) in soft red lights. And with a final shout from Nuriko, the boulder was lifted and tossed to the side, revealing a dark and eerie cave entrance. Inuyasha watched Nuriko with interest, it's nearly impossible for an ordinary human to possess such strength, a cross-dressing one nonetheless. He assumed that Ai didn't know about Nuriko's "conditions", but as for him, he knew that Nuriko was a guy the moment he saw him. No matter how much perfume the guy put on, his nose just wouldn't fail. "There," Nuriko panted, "we can go in now." Ai watched her companions walked in one by one, but didn't hesitate for a moment when she stepped into the foreboding darkness herself.

Ai walked as fast as she could, but placed her foot carefully when she took her steps. The ground under her was very uneven; the ceiling above her was also ragged with sharp rocks. The darkness was complete and overwhelming. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see a thing around her, not the person in front of or beside her, not the path under her, she couldn't even make out the shape of her own hand when she held it in front of her face. Not wanting to fall behind, Ai relied on her hearing to make sure that she was still with the group. Suddenly, without warning, the ground under her shook and it nearly knocked Ai off her feet. After she recovered, she realized that the whole cave was shaking. Dust and pieces of rock fell from the cave ceiling, making Ai wonder if the whole place was just going to fall apart. "What's going on?" she heard someone yell, and was wondering about the same thing herself. Then, as abruptly as it had come, the shaking stopped, replaced by it was an eerie silence. "Is everyone alright? No da?" Chichiri's voice rang from the darkness, replied by several disheartened "yeah". "So, is everything over now?" Tasuki asked. "I doubt it," Inuyasha said, looking around him alertly, his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. Right at that moment, two bright red glows caught the attention of everyone. Their brightness was almost unbearable after the long walk in the darkness. "I guess the demon has shown itself," Sango said determinedly, holding her Hiraikotsu in battle stance. Beside her, Kirara had already transformed itself. Seeing everyone preparing for battle, Ai instinctively grasped the bow she carried on her shoulder. If only it's not so dark, Ai thought, I could aim it and take it down.

The cave shook again as the demon roared. It must be coming towards them, for the growling and thumping were a lot nearer now. But no one knew what kind of demon it was, for the red light of its eyes were the only thing they could see in the pitch black cave. They waited nervously for the demon's first attack, not knowing when it will strike them down… Then it happened. Without warning the ground shook harder as a darker-than-night shadow fell among them, nearly knocking some of them off their feet. Inuyasha was the one nearest to it, but he jumped away as soon as he felt the small gust of wind that resulted from the demon's movement brushing against him. Tetsusaiga transformed, even without any light it shone bright silver, with wind floating and wrapping around its edge. Inuyasha silently evaluated the situation. He could not use the Wind Scar, for the whole cave would fall apart under the powerful attack. He could only slice the demon apart, but how could he do that when all he could see were the demon's eyes? However, his thoughts were interrupted when the demon attacked again, aiming directly at him. He jumped away, instantly bringing his sword down. He hit something, and the demon howled savagely in pain, it seemed that he had chopped something off, Inuyasha quietly cheered. But for the next ten minutes he did not experience such luck again. All he could do was dodging attacks and swinging the Tetsusaiga randomly at the air. The others fared no better, however. All they could do was watching, or rather listening, to Inuyasha fighting. Because of the darkness and smallness of the cave, they could do nothing to help. Sango could not wield her Hiraikotsu, Miroku could not use his staff, and Tasuki dared not using his tessen in case he hit someone other than the demon. Chichiri searched in his head for a light-producing spell, but found none.

Ai stood in frustration and despair. Even though she didn't have any experience with slaying demons, she could tell that this particular one shouldn't be that hard to slay, if they were outside. The cave was just too dark and cramped. She could feel the smooth curve of the beautifully carved bow Kaede had given her upon her departure, inviting her to engage in battle. But where could she aim? She didn't think it was a good idea just to injure the demon, she had to go for the kill. Where was the demon's vital spot? Just as she was thinking, she saw it, the faint pink glow of a Shikon jewel shard. It's resting comfortably between the demon's two glowing red orbs. Ai wondered why she hadn't seen it before, it was so obvious. Her heart thumped and threatened to jump out of her throat in excitement. But Ai kept herself calm as she quietly took out an arrow and loaded it onto the bow. She kept the arrow straight as she aimed, her vision focused on the arrowhead. Please work, Ai prayed as she pulled on the string, making it tighten. When she felt the moment was right, she released the arrow. Ai could hear the wind hissing as the arrow pierced through it, going for the mark. A few sparks of miko energy flew off into the air as the arrowhead hit the shard, causing it to loose its power. The demon gave off a final, desperate cry as it dropped to the ground, causing the cave to shake once again. Then, the ground became steady again as the intense silence refilled the cave. It was all over.

There was a moment when everyone held their breath. But when the moment had passed heavy breathing could be heard all around. "Is it dead?" Sango's voiced came out of the darkness. "It would seem that way, yes," Miroku answered. "Dead or not, can we get some light here?" Inuyasha yelled impatiently. Tasuki heard it. He grinned smugly, calmly took out his tessen. It's time to brighten things up a bit, he thought as he yelled loudly, "Rekka Shinen!" A streak of fiery flame flashed across the darkness and landed on the body of the dead demon, burning off of its flesh. With the bright flame of this "bonfire" the triumphant group inspected their surrounding for the first time. The demon they fought was huge, but not particularly as threatening as some other opponents they had faced against in the past. It appeared to be a giant bug, but a very strange looking one. It had fury legs and a fat body, its two eyes were rested on the top of its round head. To Ai's horror, the floor of the cave was covered with bones, both human's and animal's. Ai carefully walked over to the fallen beast, prepared for a sudden attack. But her nervousness settled a bit when she realized that she couldn't sense the demonic aura at all, the demon's life force was gone. She stepped over to the glowing jewel shard and took it off the demon's body. As she gripped the shard securely in her palm, the demon's flesh evaporated into thin air, leaving behind only bones and ash. "Well, that's the end of another troublesome bug," Inuyasha said as Tasuki's fire extinguished and they were once again consumed in total darkness. Once Miroku sealed the demon with a sutra, they began to make their way back toward the entrance of the cave. Ai relaxed when Koga made no move to steal the jewel shard from her. Still, she held it as tight as possible, not realizing that she sent sparks of miko energy to the shard, purifying it in the process.

Ai was almost blinded by the bright sunlight when she reached the cave entrance, the darkness inside the cave was beginning to become unbearable. Her fast trotting turned into running as she tried to reach for the sunlight, she couldn't wait to be bathed in it. She became closer and closer to the cave opening until she felt she could touch the gold rays of the sun with her fingertips. But she never reached it. For at that moment, ominous black clouds covered up the sun, and the world outside sunk into a dull and tainted darkness.

* * *

_Sorry for the long wait, folks. But I'll update sooner in the future, seeing as the Christmas holidays are coming up. But I think this is my longest chapter yet, so I guess it'll make up for it. (a.k.a. don't flame me) Anyways I'm kinda sad, one of my best friends is going back to Korea and really, we had something special. And to perverts out there, don't think something twisted! Of course it's in a friendly way! We're both girls and we are both straight._

_As for the Nuriko gender thing, even I get confused sometime. Anyway it's like this, because Ai doesn't know he's a guy yet, when I'm writing in her perspective Nuriko is a "she". The rest of times he's "he". Get it?_

_Oh yeah, for Inuyasha fans, you are welcome to check out my new fanfic, The Very Pink Of Love for Inuyasha and Kagome, based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet._

_And oh yeah, my concert is tonight and I have to sing in front of people, so nervous! **Important Notice: If I get killed by the audience tonight then there will be no more updates. You are welcome to continue my story for me. If I survive, never mind.**_


	10. The Wind and Lightning Sorceresses

  
_**Sakura: Sorry about another long wait… **dodges stuff thrown by the angry audience, which include a tomato (feh, too overused), an opened can of spaghetti soup (yum, what?), a mallet, a flaming arrow (a prietess in the audience?), a midget (what was that all about?), and a french puddle named Max. _

_**Sakura:** **Ok, ok, I said I was sorry! Sheesh. Anyway my parents said I have to cut computer time from now on. But I still have enough time, however, to babble on endlessly in the Author's Note section. This chapter did not go quite as planned. The story seems to have a mind of it's own. I'll stop talking now, on to the story… just kidding, to the reviewer's section. (gets hit by another mallet) Ouch!**_

_**Allasrya**: Thank you for you constructional criticism. And every word of it is true! Anyway I do feel that the story is rushed. What happened was that when I first started this fic, I got so excited and started to pile things up. Then after I cooled down I found I left a lot of the stuff out. And now, I'm trying head over heels to fix it. You can see that I'm not a very experienced storyteller. As for the verb tense, yeah, old problem. But in this fic it's mostly just editing errors I missed. Just like I make stupid mistakes in Math. I hope it's not affecting your reading pleasures too much. (puppy dog eyes)_

_**Sakura:** Suzaku, please do the disclaimer._

_**Suzaku:** What, feeling guilty about sealing me away and only allows me minimum appearance?_

_**Sakura:** actually, no. Look, do you want to do this or not?_

_**Midoriko:** no, he doesn't. I haven't entered the story at all yet and I should do it. I'm a much better public speaker._

_**Sakura:** How do we know? You are dead, you don't speak at all. Besides, I'll start your very own fic soon._

_**Midoriko:** Yay!_

_**Suzaku:** She, (points at the authoress), doesn't own Inuyasha and Fushigi Yugi. I, however, do own the Suzaku seishi & miko. Ok, not quite the miko…_

_**Sakura:** you can shut up now._

**Chapter 10, The Wind and Lightning Sorceresses**

"Why did the sky turn black?" Ai asked in a somewhat shaky voice. This is not right, she thought. "I sense a strong dark energy approaching," Chichiri exclaimed. Suddenly, he became even more alarmed, "Oh no! There are two of them, no da!" Inuyasha sniffed the air. "One of them is demon," he said, "and she reeks of Naraku's scent." "Kagura!" Koga gritted his teeth. "The other one," Inuyasha continued with a puzzled expression, "is human. But how can a human female possess such strong dark aura?" Chichiri grabbed on to his staff tighter, his palm was sweaty. _Could it be…_The monk tried to hide the worry, but he had to focus because at that moment, a lightning bolt was shot out from the looming dark clouds overhead, aiming directly for Ai.

His suspicion was confirmed.

Ai watched the speeding lightning bolt blasting toward her and decided to make a run for it. She jumped aside, and the lightning hit the spot she had been standing just seconds before, shattering a rock boulder. Her heart beat faster as her mind raced. This is definitely not ordinary lightning, she thought, I'm under attack by someone who can control lightning. Suddenly, she remembered what Chichiri had told her about a Seiryu seishi when he was "showing her the ropes." One of them, a woman named Soi, could manipulate lightning. But why was she with Kagura, one of Naraku's incarnations. Maybe Suzaku was right, Ai thought grimly, Naraku and Nakago had joined forces. Or was it Narako and Nakagu? "Ahh," she groaned in frustration. "Ai, watch out!" Inuyasha's yelling brought her back to reality. Another lightning bolt was shot straight at her. This time, there was no time to jump away. Ai closed her eyes, waiting for the lightning to hit, sending unbearable pain throughout her body. But the pain never came. Seconds later she realized that she was being lifted through the air by Inuyasha. He was carrying her securely in his arms while jumping fifty feet up. Inuyasha landed firmly onto the ground, he put Ai down. "You really should pay more attention," he said, "it doesn't pay to let your mind wonder during a battle." Ai nodded, "Thank you." "Feh" was all he said.

As Ai directed her glance towards the sky once more, she realized that some of the clouds had parted, revealing two people floating on top of a giant feather. "Kagura!" Inuyasha growled. The two women on top of the feather jumped off, one of them spoke, "Inuyasha, how nice of you to remember me." "Heh, I'd know Naraku's stench anywhere." For a second the smirk on Kagura's face faltered. "It's not as if I want to follow Naraku. But," she added, "I'll get rid of you nevertheless." "I'd love to see you try." Inuyasha unsheathed the Tetsusaiga. "Wind Scar!" The golden wave of light that shot from the sword was almost too bright to look at, but it didn't scare Kagura for even a second. She casually flipped open the fan she held in her hand and waved it in the air to create wind. "Dance of the Dragon!" Kagura attacked. She twirled around in the air, fan soaring in a beautifully deadly dance. A tornado was formed and it sped straight for Inuyasha.

The two attacking waves met and they fought each other. In the end the wind scar prevailed and broke through the tornado. But it didn't hit Kagura. For although the Wind Scar was stronger than her Dance of the Dragon, her attack bought her valuable time to jump away. "Not bad Inuyasha," Kagura smiled dangerously as she closed her fan. "But there's someone else I want you to meet." The other woman, clad in armour, stepped out. "Hello Suzaku scums. Do you remember me?" "Soi!"

"Soi, is this the woman who shot lightning at us?" Inuyasha asked. Chichiri nodded, "Yes, she's a seiryu seishi, and our enemy." "It doesn't matter who she is, she's going down!" Inuyasha said. "Inuyasha don't be so foolish!" Miroku exclaimed. "I sense a strong energy coming from her. It felt almost divine, like a god's power or something."  
"It's true," Chichiri confirmed, "all celestial warriors' power come from their god. Seiryu is the blue dragon of the East while Suzaku is the red phoenix of the South." "I have come across that theory in my readings on the Continent, though it seemed no more than a pagan myth at the time," Miroku rubbed his chin as he recalled. Inuyasha was unimpressed. "Feh, stop your babbling," he held his sword in battle stance, "I'll take her down. I have a problem with dragons anyway. Tetsusaiga!" "Is that all you've got?" Soi chuckled. She agilely dodged the attack and with a flick of a finger, sent lightning bolt blasting towards Inuyasha. The half demon used Tetsusaiga to block the attack. But to his surprise, the lightning did not bounce back, instead it wrapped itself around the great fang, zapping and humming like a thousand angry bees beating their wings. "What the hell?" Inuyasha swore as the sword transformed back, once again became a chunk of useless scrap metal. "I told you not to underestimate her!" Miroku scolded.

In the meantime, Koga was more than ready to launch himself at Kagura. "Wind Witch!" he shouted furiously, "how dare you show your face in my domain after what you've done to my kinsmen! You'll pay for this!" Kagura was totally unmoved by his threat. "Koga," she said while twisting her fan between her fingers in a casual but threatening way. "Remember last time you tried to mess with me? I nearly crippled you and took your shards, if that half-breed runt hadn't interfered. Besides, I don't have the time to engage in useless battles, I merely came for the jewel shard you and your friends have recently acquired. I'll spare you today." "Why you…" Koga growled. Kagura ignored him and turned her attention to Ai. "You," said Kagura, "you have the shard. Give it to me." As she spoke, she jumped right in front of Ai. "Hand it over right now!"

Ai suddenly realized that Kagura's face was only inches from her own. Her blood-red eyes stared down on her threateningly. Ai suddenly felt her knees quiver, she was scared. The feeling was not unfamiliar to her. She remembered feeling it hundreds of times before in her not-so-distant childhood. And there would always be a pair of blood-shot, crazed eyes which no amount of sobbing and pleading would soften. And that's when something inside her snapped.

At that moment, Ai's sole aim in life was to fight back. She wouldn't let the owner of those cruel eyes hurt her, or anyone else she loved. Fear deserted her body and strength fill in its place. Somehow she managed to grab on to Kagura's sleeves. "I won't let you win," Ai heard her own voice saying. Before she knew what she was doing, she sent reddish-pink energy sparks down her arms and onto Kagura.

Kagura screamed in pain. The angry sparks of miko energy wrapped themselves around her body and were attacking ferociously. They tore at her clothes and burned her skin. The pain clouded her senses and thinking. Her own shrieks of agony seemed distant and blurry. The only thing that's real and clear was the pain, the unbearable pain. She stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Eventually, the pain lessened and she could think straight again. "Who are you?" she snarled, "how come you can use miko energy? Wait, you are the new miko Naraku was babbling on about. I'll kill you!"

"Not so fast! Listen, whoever you are, I won't let you hurt her!" Soi became alert instantly, the voice was awfully familiar. Anger rose inside her as she realized who the speaker was. "Amiboshi," she smiled dangerously, "You are a bigger traitor than I thought. You ditched your own priestess and brother to protect HER! I think I should knock some sense into your head!" "Listen to me, Soi," Amiboshi said sincerely. "I don't understand your loyalty for Nakago. He has no feelings for you. He's just using you…" "Silence." Soi cut him off in a dangerously quiet voice, "I don't need a traitor telling me what to do." "This conversation is tiring me out," Kagura interrupted with finality, "it's time for me finish you off, all of you! Dance of the Dragon!"

A giant wind tornado formed as expected. But what's not expected was that Soi shot a lightning bolt at the exact same time. The two attacks met and combined. The tornado, now soaring in lightning, thundered towards our small band of heroes, hurling rocks and dust into the air. It destroyed everything in its path, determined to reach them and kill them all.

"Boy, how do we get ourselves out of this one?" muttered Nuriko. " A combined attack! We need a combined attack too!" shouted Chichiri. "I'll use my arrow!" Ai said immediately, her mind racing. _Kagura and Soi are from two different worlds. If I was to attack with my arrow, which, according to Miroku, is from Feudal Japan, then I need someone from the World of the Book to combine his attack with mine. _"Tasuki!" Ai shouted, "When I shoot the arrow I want you to flame it with your tessen!" "Wha…" "Just do it!" Tasuki nodded, he could see the fire of determination burning in the girl's eyes. Ai wasted no time. She quickly pulled out an arrow and concentrated all her energy on it. The arrow glowed a fierce reddish-pink light. The tornado was a lot closer now, it looked more frightening than ever. Ai carefully took aim. If she should miss, then they were all doomed. When the moment was right, she released the arrow. Immediately, Tasuki flamed it with his iron tessen.

The fire did not burn the arrow. Instead it integrated into the arrow's light, surrounding it, making it glow more fiercely than ever. The flaming arrow pierced through the air as if nothing could stop it, then flew directly into the center of the tornado.

What followed after was a second of total silence. It was one of those moments that people stopped to stare, to wonder what would happen next, and everything seemed to be frozen. But that moment quickly passed, for a golden light, more brilliant that the rays of the sun, shot out of the tornado and made it completely disintegrate. It happened in just a few seconds. Then, it was all over.

"Y… you did it!" Nuriko shouted in sheer joy, then he jumped up and down. "Go Ai, go Ai!" "Hey!" Tasuki protested loudly, "What about me? I did half the work!" "Don't celebrate too early!" Ai said sternly, pointing to Kagura and Soi, whom, of course, were still there. "Don't worry," Inuyasha made Tetsusaiga transform once more, "I'll finish them off." But Kagura and Soi had both jumped back to the safety of the giant feather and were already ascending into the heavens. "I promise we'll be back," Kagura said coldly, promising revenge. And then, they flew into the clouds and disappeared out of sight.

Just seconds after they were gone, the clouds parted and completely evaporated, letting the bright sunshine pouring down on earth once more. The birds sang and the flowers bloomed as usual, as if nothing had happened.

"Well, no use chasing after them now," Miroku sighed, glancing up at the clear blue sky, "I guess we all owe it to Ai." Everyone nodded. Inuyasha walked up to the young miko, his usual smirk disappeared. Instead, his face was serious. "You know," he began very awkwardly, "You fight very good. For a miko, that is." He quickly added. "What's that supposedly to mean?" Ai narrowed her eyes, "Do I sense a stereotyper?" "Feh," Inuyasha said, obviously annoyed. Koga looked at Ai apologetically, "Sorry Lady Ai, it's time for me to go back to my tribe. I wish you luck on your quest." "Thank you Koga," Ai smiled. Koga smiled back and took off. Soon, the small cyclone formed and disappeared down the mountain path.

"Well," said Miroku, "We should get going too. The sun is setting. We have to get back to the village before dark." "We left our horses at the base of the mountain. We have to get down quick and then do some serious riding. Or, in some cases, running," Chichiri said while taking a glance at the proud hanyou. "Great! Let's get going then," said Ai, and they started trekking down the mountain.

Amiboshi watched as his friends all walked ahead, but didn't budge an inch himself. Something bothered him. Ai's behavior while confronting Kagura had him very worried, but he did not know why. His thoughts were cut short by Tasuki's impatient shouting, telling him to catch up. He strode along, though the shadow of worry still hung around his heart.


	11. Homely Troubles Part I

**Chapter 11, Homely Troubles (Part I)**

Author's note

_For the readers who think the story's too rushed, Homely Troubles I and II are especially installed for you! Hope this will slow down the pace a bit. And, in the next chapter, there will be some character development not only for the good guys, but for the "bad guys" as well. Enjoy!_

_Picante gato: Glad you like my story! I wrote this cross-over because, first, I love these two shows with a passion. Second, I don't think there's enough IY/FY stories on the net. I'm trying to make the character interaction as entertaining as possible._

_And a sincere thanks to all who reviewed!_

* * *

The village at night looked peaceful and welcoming. No matter how frightful the forest around it looked, the light from the wooden huts and the cheerful cackling of cooking fires were enough to comfort a tired traveler. The tree branches swayed gently in the wind, casting dark shadows on the ground. A pale moon hung overhead, almost full; it's watery light peeked through the branches, gilding the earth silver.

Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo gathered around the cook fire along with the Seishis. Lady Kaede was stirring some kind of soup in an iron pot. Although most of the Seishis had never been in a Japanese dwelling before, they all threw away the formalities and gave in to the cheerfulness and delight of the fire and the smell of a meal being cooked. Though some of them were showing stress of muscle pain from sitting on their knees. "My, my," Lady Kaede exclaimed, "What a big crow we have tonight. I might have to make two pots of stew." "Smells good!" Nuriko grinned gleefully, "You gotta tell me what herbs you put in there Kaede-sama, I want to try it out myself!" Knowing Nuriko was a man, Kaede raised her eyebrows a little but she answered nonetheless. "Strange, where is Ai?" Nuriko asked after he memorized Kaede's recipe. "I think she went to gather fire wood, no da." Chichiri answered. "I'll go check on her," Amiboshi volunteered. He stood up and left.

Ai put down the armload of dry wood on the ground and began to climb a giant oak tree. She knew she should be taking the wood back to the hut, but the crisp, cool night air was too much for her to resist. She ascended expertly, putting her feet securely on the sturdy branches and at the same tine carefully avoiding ripping her T-shirt and jeans. When Ai deemed that she had climbed high enough, she found a strong branch to sit on and observed the scenery.

She sat there, listening absent-mindedly to the rhythmic sizzling of leaves and felt the soothing wind on her face while the moon light illuminated her skin a pale silver. She glanced outward, it was a clear night. There was no evening mist hanging above the rice fields and the river shimmered under the moonlight. But today, even the serene scenery could not bring peace to her heart; her mind kept on wandering to what happened when she zapped Kagura with her miko powers and the disturbing memories it brought back.

Flashback 

"_Ai-chan, Ai chan, help me!" a young girl about nine or ten shouted desperately, a pair of strong arms grabbed her, and covered up her mouth, trying to silence her. "Megumi-chan!" A ten-year-old Ai yelled as she watched her friend being helplessly dragged away by a tall, mean-looking man. Megumi wriggled, trying to escape the strong hold of her abductor, but he merely smirked at her futile struggle. "Maybe I'll get you too, girlie," he said to Ai, "it's just going to be more money for me when I sell you both." His eyes had a glint of greediness and evil, it almost seemed to glow red. The rest of the world had suddenly gone black around Ai. The only thing visible were his eyes, glowing with a selfish desire. **He's going to hurt me, he's going to hurt Megumi. Megumi…** Then something snapped. The man was stunned as the ten-year-old girl charged at him. He never could've thought that such innocent, fragile feature of a small child could contain such hatred. He stumbled back, lost his hold on the other girl, and immediately felt a surge of indescribable pain. It tore at his clothes and flesh. He found himself surrounded by reddish-pink sparks just before he doubled-over and sank into the oblivion of unconciousness._

"Ai…" a small whisper brought Ai back to reality. She turned around, and found Megumi trembling and cowering in a corner. This time, because of her. "Ai, who… what are you? How…did you do… do that?" Ai noticed that Megumi had dropped the "chan" after her name, and it hurt her deeply. "Megumi…" "Get… get away from me, you freak!" Ai was stunned into silence. Her mind had gone blank. 'I'm a freak… a freak…'

Slowly the vision faded, and Ai was once again staring into the peaceful, moonlit rice paddies. So, what happened that day with Megumi had happened again. I wonder if I spooked some people, Ai thought. Her face hardened as she thought about the man who caused her to lose herself every time she's exposed to extreme anger, the man who's the reason behind all this, the man who made her heart turn into ice at the mere image of him, the man who brought her so much pain in her childhood, the man with the crazed eyes, the man who she should call, "father". True, admitted Ai, the abductor of Megumi who caused her to expose her power the first time was not her father. But her so-called father was the reason behind it, wasn't it?

"Ai, are you okay?" Ai was startled as she realized that someone was calling for her. She looked down and saw Amiboshi. "I don't mean to disturb you but you were very pale and were staring off into space." "Oh," said Ai, "I better come down then." Ai climbed down a couple of branches and lightly jumped to the ground. For a while Ai and Amiboshi sat side-by-side, leaning against the tree trunk in silence. Finally, Amiboshi spoke up, "Ai, about what happened today, with you and Kagura, I am worried. I don't know why." It wasn't a question, so Ai didn't answer. Instead, her thoughts drifted back to Megumi and her father, to all her fifteen years of loneliness, to all the screams of pain and agony. Although he didn't say it, Ai knew that he was talking to her as a friend. But the question was, was she ready? Was she ready to accept his offer of friendship, and tell him all these things? Ai didn't think so. All these years of being alone didn't prepare her well for this situation, so she reacted the only way she knew, through anger.

"Who do you think you are, sticking your nose into my business like that?" Ai exclaimed hotly, "I've known you for less than three days and already you are being nosy?" "Ai, I'm sorry…" "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself!" "Ai, I didn't mean to…" "Just forget about it!" Ai said with finality. She rose abruptly and walked away, leaving Amiboshi sighing by the tree.

Nuriko hid behind a tree, watching the whole event with utmost interest. When he saw Ai's outburst, he was determined to help. He brushed away a long shaggy bang that fell across his face gracefully and stood beside the path in the woods, waiting for Ai to come by.

Ai walked down the road with a sinking heart. Her mind was a whirlpool of emotion. As she walked she casually kicked a small rock, as if watching the rock rolling ahead of her was going to take her mind off the matter at hand. "Hey Ai-chan!" Ai was startle then she saw Nuriko. "Hello Nuriko," she replied without much energy. "So, what are you doing, taking a walk? Or," Nuriko narrowed her eyes, "are you meeting your lover on this quiet, romantic night?" "Wha…what are you talking about?" asked Ai, trying to appear more puzzled than embarrassed. "Oh, well," said Nuriko, "you needn't tell me if you don't want to." They stood in silence for a moment, until Nuriko looked up at the night sky. "My, my! Aren't the stars lovely tonight?" "It sure is," Ai sighed. "You know," Nuriko suddenly looked at Ai right in the eye, "it's always good to have someone who cares about you, even though you think you don't need it. We must always appreciate the caring people in our lives, for they might be gone one day." "So, you eavesdropped," Ai said frankly. "I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about," said Nuriko innocently. "Thank you," Ai hesitated for a moment, then added, "Nuri-chan." At that, she turned and ran down the path without hesitation.

Nuriko watched Ai disappeared down the path, his brows fused together in a frown. _Nuri-**CHAN?**_ _She thinks I'm a woman? _Nuriko knew that he should be happy that Ai went off to make up with Amiboshi, but somehow he'd rather her staying with him instead. But all these disturbing thoughts flew away when wind carried the cheerful, soothing tune of a flute towards him, along with the laughter of a young girl. Nuriko smiled. He had helped two friends; he was content and happy.

* * *

"**What? **What do you mean you need to go home for three days?" Inuyasha yelled. It's already the next morning. The sun shone cheerfully in the sapphire-blue sky.

"Well, you see…" Ai explained, "I have a real important…"

"Don't say it!" Inuyasha cut her off. "**You got exams!"** everyone said it at the exact same time."

"Oh, you already know! Good! I'll be off then!"

"Where do you think you're going?" Inuyasha held her back, "I didn't say you can go!" "Oh come on!" Ai pleaded, "It's only three days!" "Three days?" Inuyasha shouted angrily, "Every time you go back you always take your sweet time! Heaven knows if you're coming back or not!" Ai's patience was running dangerously low. "Every time? This is the FIRST time! Besides, I agreed to help you guys out, I won't quit now!" "Feh!"

"That's it!" Ai blew her top, "sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, SIT!" By the time she's finished, Inuyasha was no longer above ground. Miroku sweat-dropped. "You know Inuyasha," he said to the crater Inuyasha was in, "you might as well let her go back." "Or else you'll endure tremendous pain, no da!" Chichiri added. Their advice was greeted by silence, Inuyasha's still out cold. "Let's just say he accepts," Miroku said.

Ai bid everyone goodbye then walked past the crater towards the well. She went by Amiboshi and their eyes met for a moment. He was smiling at her. Last night, both of them had came to a silent agreement that they would put the Kagura issue aside, and Ai would tell him the truth eventually, when she's ready.

Ai smiled back. Then, she stepped over the edge of the old well and jumped.

Ai came out of the heavy wooden door of the shrine and followed the road to her apartment. As she walked she thought over the stories she made up to explain her absence to her two brothers, 10-year-old Haru and college-freshman Yutaka. It's a good thing that her Mom was away on a business trip. Ai checked her watch, it was seven o'clock. She still had thirty minutes to get ready before she goes to school.

"Ai, you are back!" Yukata exclaimed as Ai pushed open the apartment door. "Hai!" Ai smiled at her big brother.

Haru's head suddenly popped through the doorway. Ai could've sworn that he and Yutaka exchanged a meaningful glance before the college-student asked, "So, how's the trip?"

A school trip to Osaka was Ai's made-up excuse for being away. "It was good," Ai answered simply. "Took any pictures?" "My pictures are on the digital camera." "Well, let's see them," Yutaka insisted. Ai sighed, this felt like an interrogation. But luckily, Ai was a step ahead. She had downloaded pictures of Osaka's scenery from the Internet and digitally inserted her figures onto the pictures. The result was uncanny.

"Wow, very skillfully done!" Yutaka commented. "What do you mean?" asked Ai, puzzled. "I'm surprised your computer skills had reached such a level that you hoaxed all these pictures and they looked almost real," said Yutaka, "ALMOST."

"So, where did I go wrong, bro?" Ai asked as if she was consulting her brother on a difficult math question.

"It's the light," observed Yutaka. "In the background the shadows are on the left side, but on your face they point to the right. I'm surprised that a highly accomplished artist such as yourself could've missed this."

_Rats, _Ai silently swore, how could she make such a stupid mistake? But what's done was done. If Yutaka wanted to continue this mind game, she would be happy to oblige…

"So, Yutaka, you knew a long time ago, didn't you?" asked Ai smiling.

"Actually, it's yesterday. The school phoned, asking if you're better from your 'stomach flu'. Lucky for you I went along with it, thinking that whatever you did, you did it for a reason. I could've called Mom. I could've called the police. But I didn't. Now I believe it's time you tell us what's going on."

Ai thought this over. For a moment she actually considered telling him the truth. But would he believe her? Probably not. The only solution now was stalling.

"Look," Ai said, pointing to the clock, "I have school in twenty minutes. After I get back I'll explain everything."

"I don't think so, Sis," Yutaka put on his best "big brother" face, "I don't have classes today and Haru's school is having a holiday. We've got all day. And you, Sis, could use an extra day to fully recover from that stomach flu."

"But Yutaka! I have a huge exam today!" Ai protested. "Too bad," Yutaka held his ground. "Alright Yutaka, you leave me no choice," Ai clenched her teeth. She grabbed her book bag and bolted for the door. Yutaka tried you grab her, but she easily dodged him. "See ya later, big brother!" Ai waved as she ran down the stairs. _You might have gotten away this time,_ thought Yutaka, but you can't avoid me forever! _I will get an explanation from you!_

* * *

_If anyone find this chapter confusing, gomen nasai! But you will find out about Ai's past soon enough, eventually. Mwahahahaha!_


	12. Homely Troubles Part II

**Chapter 12, Homely Troubles (part II)**

_Author's Note: Here is Homely Troubles 2! A couple interesting things happened in this chapter and is somewhat creepy. Heck, I even got creeped out writing it, lol. Hope you'll enjoy. Anyhow, the connecting chapter is done! Ai and gang will be back next chapter as well as the **action**!_

_Reviewer's Corner:_

_Chaoskatsunedancer: Xie xie ni! Arigatou! I'm descriptive writer all right! As for Nuriko, he's the big sister (or big brother, depending on whom he was helping) type. I, for one, prefer to see him as a guy, probably because I have a crush on him. As for Sesshoumaru, I was planning on a scene for him, but I'm still not sure about when I'll insert it or how it'll turn out. _

_Anime-luver4ever23: I know it's confusing, I was trying to be "hooking", but I guess I'm still a newbie._

_Kim Conner: Wow, I'm glad you like it and think it's funny. Anyway I'm not pairing Ai with Suboshi, it's Amiboshi. (I still can't forgive Suboshi for he's done to Tama's adorable family) As for other candidates, (it was a tough decision), they are all so violent! Wouldn't make a good parent, ne? Well, my best friend Bailey the Blondie and I also discussed this over, we decided on Amiboshi cuz he's young and nice. Lol._

_Genki Birdie: I have more people telling about the tenses than there are stars in the sky. Ok, maybe not. But thanks anyway. I made minor changes and edited some of the previous chapters, mainly because of tenses. The old buildings… it's sort of explained. It's like she has a "connection" with old things, if you know what I mean. It's like the chapter title, Premonition. Yeah. Anyways, use your imagination. Also, I have to admit I didn't plan this thing very well. I didn't explain a lot of things when I was supposed to. Now, I'm struggling to catch up. After all, this is what Chappie Twelve is for!_

* * *

"Kagura, you have failed once again." Naraku's cold voice seemed almost like an emotionless monotone, yet it pierced through the air like a knife.

"Yes, Naraku-sama. But next time I swear I'll kill them all!" Kagura said through clenched teeth. "All I ever get from you are hollow promises, Kagura." Naraku paused, studying his incarnation, "It makes me wonder if it's still worth the trouble to keep you alive." Kagura's eyes grew wide in fright as a small red ball, glowing with demonic aura, appeared on Naraku's palm. A twisted grin danced on Naraku's lips as he squeezed the glowing object. Instantly, a wave of tremendous pain ran through Kagura's already worn-out body, causing her to scream out. "Remember Kagura," Naraku's eyes were filled with satisfaction, "I hold your heart in my hand. You will do as I say, and I don't appreciate excuses for failures."

Seiryu celestial warrior Soi walked down the long, winding verandah corridor that ran across the central garden of the Kutou palace. The night was clear, the cool night breeze carried the calming fragrance of roses. However, summer had ended. The few withered blossoms that were left clung desperately to their stems. Still, the unhealthiness the garden could not be blamed solely on the coming of fall. Instead of looking splendidly golden, the leaves were drearily withered. The fall and winter could not kill the garden, they would only put it to sleep, let it rest for the rebirth in the spring. However, though hard to notice, Soi could see the unnatural ugly brown spots on the leaves and branches, unusual amount of pine needles, and the lack of birds, animals, and insects in the garden. They were subtle signs indicating that the garden was slowly dying.

It's all Nrarku's fault! Soi thought angrily. She could feel the demon aura and poisonous miasma leaking from the quarters, slowly killing off the animals and plants around it. Pretty soon, a couple of guards and servants would perish, too. If it wasn't for her strong chi and powers, Soi was not sure if she could stand it, either. Why had Nakago-sama sought alliance with this wretched demon?

Soi chuckled silently to herself. Why? It was simple; he did it for power. For Nakago-sama, everything came down to power. Even her marriage to him was nothing but an act convenience, to justify their chi-enriching ritual and to win over the hearts of the people of Kutou. Deep in her heart, Soi yearned for more. But from time to time, she forced herself to be content.

A gust of wind rustled through the leaves, frightened off a crow. It gave off a desperate cry while flying off, its wings dark against the dusking sky. Soi drew her cloak tighter against her robe. A chill had ran down her spine and she didn't like it one bit. Something was amiss, but she had no idea what. She strained her senses and very faintly, she heard a moaning cry.

Instantly alert, Soi searched towards the sound. Her sandaled feet stepped soundlessly on the cool wooden floor. The cry was followed by several low moans. As she neared the source she could feel the dark aura growing stronger and stronger. It fell like a dark curtain around her heart, making her feel hard to breathe. She stopped to elevate her chi before advancing again.

Soi followed the noises down the verandah corridor towards a dark corner of a hall that belonged to Naraku's quarters. The demonic aura was thick, ominous, and strong. She could clearly see the tendrils of black fog escaping from a trap door that lead to an underground basement. For a moment her hand hovered above the hatch, wondering whether or not she should open it. In the end curiosity prevailed and she opened the hatch. The opening revealed a dark passageway with creaky wooden ladders. As soon as she entered it, Soi was overcome with a wave of dark chi and an unbearable rotting smell. Wanting to get this over with, she hurried down the stairs. But what she saw next shocked her.

Instead of a darkened, dust-covered storage room, she saw a pit filled with green, toxic slime. Various demons slithered in and above the pit, making disgusting gurgling noises. They glowed eerily. In the midst of it all, covered in tattered kimono, was a figure of a young woman bound by chains. Her figure was strangely familiar… Kagura!

Without thinking, Soi stepped into the slime and ran to Kagura. At first, she thought she was unconscious, for her breathing was weak and shallow. But as she was leaning closer, Kagura's eyes suddenly shot open; they glared a fierce, deathly red.

Soi nearly stumbled, "You…you're awake!" "Get out! Before I kill you!" Kagura hissed, angry for being seen by a human in such a humiliating state. Soi recovered from her shock and smirked, "All chained-up like that?" Kagura launched at Soi, but the chains held her back. They wrapped tightly around her and sent energy sparks to Kagura's body, causing her even more pain.

Soi's expression unexpectedly softened, "Your Master is torturing you? For failing to retrieve the jewel shard?" Kagura's silence answered everything. "I see," Soi got up, "I'll go get some bandages for your wounds, and some food as well."

"I'm a demon," Kagura replied coldly, "I do not accept human aid."

"I'm afraid a person who's all chained up has no say in whose aid he or she receives, demon or not," Soi said firmly and left. Soon, she came back with supplies.

Kagura didn't say a word while Soi worked, she just glared at the older woman. Why was she showing her sympathies? They had nothing to do with each other. If she thought that one mission could form a bond between a demon and a human, then she thought wrong. She's lucky that she didn't kill her…

"There, you are all done," said Soi, "Wiping sweat off her forehead. She covered up her nose, her head felt dizzy. The smell and the demonic chi had really gotten into her. The only reason why she didn't faint or get devoured by demons was that her own Seishi aura protected her. She couldn't stay long, so she left a plate of rice cakes and fish beside Kagura. "Eat," was the only thing she said before climbing up the stairs and out of the trapdoor. Kagura glanced at her bandaged body then at the food. She hesitated, then struggled to pick up a rice cake with her chained hands. She had never eaten human food before and as she chewed, it tasted…good.

Soi practically ran down the verandah. Her lungs welcomed the fresh chilly night air. The depressing demonic aura slowly faded away as she got further, and when she reached her own room, she couldn't sense it at all. Soi tore down her soiled royal robe, it was covered in slime. She told a maid to throw it away and burn it then shut her mouth. The maid followed her orders obediently. Soi changed into her nightgowns and fell on her bed, shocked and exhausted. "I can't even find peace in my own home" was her last thought before she fell asleep.

Naraku stood in the shadows of an oak tree, watching the last of the sparks go out in the midst of a small mound of ashes. Just moments ago these ashes had been finely-woven silk. The maid who brought it here and set it on fire had gone, back to her daily life, prepared to forget about what happened that night, as her Lady had instructed her to. But Naraku wasn't going to forget. He would use this to his own advantage, right in his ally (and his biggest enemy)'s backyard.

* * *

The wind blew through the leaves, some of them, dead and hay-yellow, rustled and dropped to the ground. Pretty soon they would cover up the earth like a carpet, then they would rot away, turn to dust, just like his family were right now.

Tamahome knelt beside the mounds that served as graves to the people he loved the most. Some day he would erect proper tombstones for them, using the money he earned and saved himself.

It's been a whole year now. A year ago on this fateful day, just days after the Festival of the Stars, his whole family was slaughtered. Now, he was at their graves once more. He knelt there the whole night just like last time, his hand clutching tightly the necklace Yuiren, his youngest sister, had made for Miaka using shells, featheres, and her two tiny hands. Miaka… Tamahome felt like kicking himself. He didn't keep the promise he made at this very spot to his father and siblings. He didn't protect Miaka. Instead he watched helplessly over her lifeless body, just like he did theirs. Now, the only thing he could hope for was that his family would be reincarnated. And were now happily living, but as someone else, just like the barren trees would blossom again in spring. He did believe in reincarnation. After all Miaka came back…

Unable to think, unable to reason, Tamahome brought his fist into the ground. Everything, everyone, he held dear was torn away from him. The hope he held for finding Miaka again was fulfilled but at the same time crushed. It would never be the same…

After what seemed like an eternity, Tamahome rose and walked back into his hut. This small and shabby house had once been his home. But it wasn't anymore, It's just a hut now. It once had been full of poverty and hardships, but also filled with laughter and life. Now, it's cold, bare, and empty. All sense of warmth the word "home" brings was gone. What's left were heartbreak and sorrow. Tamahome strained his ears, as if he expected to hear Gyokuran's laughter, or Yuiren's crying of her Oniisan to come home, or his father's occasional coughing and asking whether his life in the city was comfortable… But he heard nothing except the wailing wind.

Tears streamed down his face. They just wouldn't stop.

* * *

Even in its decline the Konan palace looked majestic. Every wooden beam, stone pillar, wall painting, and window curtain reflected its intricate craftsmanship. However, the palace, once so full of bustle and life, was much more empty now. Since Kutou took over, more than half of its servants were dismissed, nearly all of the royal advisers were sent home, and the guards and troops were kept to a minimum. Hotohori knew he was extremely lucky that he was still standing in these walls.

If Kutou was still ruled by the greedy, corrupt emperor, Hotohori was sure he would be chased away or even executed a long time ago. His palace burnt, looted, or being taken as a resort. But it's Nakago who ruled now, he was sly, observant, and patient. Nakago would not completely take over Konan until he made sure that Suzaku's powers banished and his Warriors powerless and without hope. But since they still had their powers, and another Priestess was promised, Nakago halted his move. He would play with them a little longer. But he wasn't careless. He made sure Konan and its Emepror were under his power, and that Hotohori would do as he says. With Konan as a satellite country, Hotohori managed to make the burden of taxes and abuse as light as he could with the little amount of political power he's got left. However, Hotohori was sure that Nakago wouldn't be very happy with how things were going recently. Especially his involvement in them. Soon, he would make his move…

A great wind somehow got past the doors and drapestries and blew through the hall. The torchlight flickered and died. A dark presence entered through the throne room, Hotohori could feel it. By the haunting moonlight, the young emperor could make out the dark shape of a man crouching on the ceiling. The Kutou ninja had come.

Hotohori's hands rested firmly on his sword, but his tone, though cold, was as smooth and polite as always. "So, we humbly ask what is it that Nakago wants this time?"

"It's Nakago-sama to you, Koan-scum," the black-clothed man spat and scolded. Then he got down to business. "His Highness wants to remind you that Konan was still under Kutou's rule, and that you are extremely lucky that His Highness is generous to you. Or you'd been dragged off your throne and beheaded a long time ago."

"How kind of him," Hotohori replied emotionlessly.

"Indeed," the man smirked, "but Nakago-sama feels that he deserves some thanks. He demands that your harvest-tax be paid as soon as possible."

Hotohori was in an outrage, "How could he expect that from us? All the taxes have been doubled or tripled, and we didn't have a good harvest this year. Suzaku has been banished for heaven's sake, and my people are starving."

"I'm afraid that's not my concern," the man replied coldly, "and Nakago-sama specificly told me to tell you that if you dare to _try_ anything, let's just say we're a step ahead. Let this be a warning." At that, the man-in-black melted into the ceiling and disappeared.

Hotohori's spirit remained sullen long after the torches had been relit. What did he mean by they're step ahead? Was Nakago threatening him? But his politican instincts also told him that his country was still safe from total annihilation, for the moment. It seemed like Nakago was aware of their recent activities but still unaware about their big secret: Suzaku's power source. Hotohori believed that he felt something from Suzaku, but didn't exactly know about the Feather. Hotohori swore that he would protect Ai and the Feather from harm; they were his homeland's only hope against domination.

Suddenly, Hotohori felt himself awash in Chi. Chiriko must've felt it too, for he bursted through the door.

"Your highness, I think Mitsukake's in trouble!"

* * *

_So, how'd ya like it? R&R please!_


	13. Picture Pretty

**Chapter Thirteen, Picture Pretty**

_Hello, this is S.P.! (I couldn't decide between Sakura Priestess and Snowy Plum, so now it's S.P.! This is the latest update. And I know it's **late!** Bad joke, I know. This chapter has lots of light-hearted humour and Amiboshi-Ai cuteness! Sorry, it's only cuteness at this stage. In the later chapters you might find Ai asking Ami-kun to play songs like Bring Me To Life and Ai No Uta. I know it does not sound appropriate since BMTL is an American song (it is, right?) and Ai No Uta is from the second **Inuyasha** movie. But I couldn't resist. They are cool songs. By the way, I typed this while listening to Asian pop music. Have anyone noticed that Asian music is lot more dreamier and tend to be a little slower than American ones? A lot of them have this Anime-feel to it, at least the ones I listen to. I guess it's the cultural aspect. They also really take care on doing the background music of the songs, a lot of the songs I listen to have sounds of thunder, rain, flute, or even swords clashing during battle. I guess this is more to my taste than your average American rap, I don't know._

_I think I'm starting to sound like Watase-Sensei. (S.P. with dreamy eyes: Watase-sama! My hero!) Gotta lay off on those chat-sections. Anyway, now it's time your read, and then, it's time to review. Got it? Good. (Just kidding, like I would threaten my readers)_

Ai walked sullenly towards her home while kicking a pebble absent-mindedly. The test had been a major killer and the lack of studying as well as having ten thousand things on her mind didn't help either. She was not sure if she flunked and if she did, what would Mother think?

The thought of Mother filled her heart with bitterness. She had extremely high expectations on all her children, especially Ai. But she's not around long enough to help them with their studies or problems in life. She was constantly away on business trips and on the days when she was actually at home, she's usually doing paperwork or catching on some rest. It's as if she was escaping from some unhappy memories. The unhappy memory was of course, father. At that, Ai refused to think any further.

When Ai came around the bend, she hesitated. Not wanting to face her brothers just yet, she turned and walked towards the shrine. She pushed open the wooden doors, expecting to find an empty courtyard. Instead, she was nearly deafened by someone shouting "Aieeeee!"

Ai nearly stumbled over. All seven seishis and the Inuyasha gang assembled in the courtyard. Wait, seven? But Amiboshi's here. Where's Mitsukake?

"So, what are you all doing here?"

Ai did not get an instant reply. Now, the people in the courtyard were staring at her as if they had seen a ghost, wearing expressions that were impossible to comprehend. Ai smiled bitterly to herself. She'd have to remember not to wear this school uniform too often, it seemed that it had the power to bring back unpleasant memories…

Finally, Chiriko had the sense to break the uncomfortable silence. "We've come to get you, Ai-san."

"But, it's been only one day," said Ai, puzzled.

"Yes, but something urgent has come up. Yesterday, while in the palace, Hotohori-sama and I both felt awash in chi. It seems like Mitsukake was sending us a warning signal of some sort. He is currently in a village near Kutou, curing people from a plague, but he might be in trouble. And that's not all. A Kutou messenger had dropped some disturbing hints. We need to investigate as soon as we can." Chiriko explained.

"I understand," said Ai, "but if that's the case, then why is Inuyasha here?"

Inuyasha quietly growled. "I'm coming with you. There's been not a stir in my era lately, and I want to find out where Naraku is. Besides, I need to make sure that you don't waste your time. We still have jewel shards to find."

"In other words, he's grown quite attached to you already, Ai-chan," said Shippo matter-of-factly. Inuyasha suddenly grew very red in the face. "Why you…"

"No need to hit a little kid Inuyasha," said Ai sternly, "I'll just organize my backpack then I'll come with you."

"Oh no you don't!" boomed a voice behind her, "Not until you give us a decent explanation of what's going on."

Ai's heart skipped a beat. "Yutaka, what are you doing here?"

"Just about to ask you the exact same thing," said Yutaka, "I know you come here often to help Kaede-obaasan and Taiitukan-abaasan with the upkeep of the shrine, but I'm afraid that things had gone a bit odd lately. And who the heck are these…these…**_people_**?" _(S.P. (authoress): Yukata, are you racist?)_

Ai looked nervously at the two Elders. Kaede nodded. Ai took a deep breath, _here it goes!_

"So, do you actually believe what I said?" asked Ai fifteen minutes later.

Yukata thought about it for a moment, then sighed, "I'll have to believe it, seeing as evidences were standing right in front of me."

Ai squeaked, "Thanks bro. I knew you'd come around."

"Don't think you're off the hook!" snarled Yutaka, "And you!" he pointed to the stunned men, "If you touch my sister, you DIE!" _(S.P.: I, um, think your threat rings hollow)_

"Yutaka! You're embarrassing me!" hissed Ai.

"As if!" Haru, Ai's younger brother, chimed in. 'Ai's so clumsy and ugly that she'll never get a boyfriend! But I wouldn't mind one of them though," added Haru thoughtfully, "They are all so cool! I'll finally have a cool brother! Can you really throw fire with that thing, Mr. Scary Face?" he pointed to Tasuki's tessen.

"Are you saying that I'm not cool?" bellowed Yutaka.

"No," replied Haru coolly, "I'm just saying that Ai could marry someone cooler."

"Don't I get a say in this?" said Ai, her eyes twitching.

"No!" said both her brothers together.

_An extreme family, _thought Tamahome as he watched Ai chasing her brothers around the courtyard.

When it's finally time to set off, another problem arose. The Universe Of the Four Gods would accept the Seishis and the Miko, but Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were a whole different story, literally. Would the portal open for them as well?

When Ai addressed this concern to Chichiri, he replied, "If everything the Priestess does weaves into the Universe of the Four Gods, I don't believe this should be a problem, no da. For the God Suzaku himself had mentioned the Shikon Jewel to you in the dream, it could be that Inuyasha and his friends were meant to be involved all along, no da! But just as a precaution, I suggest you link hands, no da!"

In the end the Seishis stood huddled together near Ai, while she held Sango's hand to help her cross the barrier. Miroku stood next to Sango, his expression lecherous and gleeful. Before he could grab Sango's hand (or behind), Ai jumped in and put Shippo between them. Miroku sighed and grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve, who growled in annoyance. Slowly Ai opened the Scroll_ (the original Universe Of the Four Gods were destroyed after Miaka's death)_, a warm red glow enveloped her and the seishis immediately. The light traveled through their linked hands to Sango and the Inu gang. Yutaka's jaw dropped wide open and Haru exclaimed, "Wow, it's real Sis!" Ai would've laughed at them if not for that she's already traveling through the gap between the worlds.

They traveled steadily east. The Seishis rode on five horses. Hotohori once again stayed behind. Miroku also took a horse, and dumped the two kids, Shippo and Chiriko on Inuyasha's back. Needless to say, the hanyou complained loudly about "being stuck babysitting". Not forgetting the problems last time, Chichiri assigned Tasuki a fat, mild tempered mare, much to the bandit's embarrassment.

"Why can't ya just spirit us to wherever we're goin'?" grumbled Tasuki.

"I can only transport a few people before I run out of strength, no da. Besides, Hotohori-sama specifically instructed us to scan the country side, no da."

"Yeah, but ta think that such a manly, masculine bandit leader like me…" Tasuki couldn't continue due to shame.

Ai and Sango flew on Kirara overhead. For a while she forgot about all her problems and missions and enjoyed the ride. Vast terrains passed under them while the cool autumn wind blew on her face. This, she decided, was how absolute freedom felt like.

They stopped at midday to rest and have lunch. A village could be seen ahead. Not wanting to alert anyone of their arrival, they gathered in the woods, well out of sight of the villagers. The small settlement seemed peaceful. The houses were plain, some no more than huts. But there was a serene comfort in the smokes that rose out of the chimneys and the barking and neighing of farm animals. _Everything is so…so **real** in the olden days, _thought Ai as she chewed on her pork bun, _not like my era, where things are all so artificial and cold._

Soon, they took off again. They passed several small villages without stopping, always taking the longer route around. The view had become boring and the blowing wind made conversation impossible between she and Sango. Ai became increasingly sleepy until Sango's shriek of pleasant surprise woke her with a start.

Ai looked down, and was shocked to find that the usual green landscape and gentle hills had been replaced by the shimmering surface of a broad river. The water shone like a thousand diamonds glimmering in the sun. The current was fierce, steady, and strong; Ai could hear its thundering marching song from Kirara's back. Despite its size the water was pure and clear. Near the shore Ai could see trout two feet long jumping merrily in and out of the water. She was amazed.

On the grassland by the shore, the small band of horsemen halted and signaled them to come down. Kirara dived into descent (another thrilling experience) and landed sturdily on the ground. Ai hopped down and Amiboshi was immediately by her side.

"River Kai," said Amiboshi as they both stood by the shore watching the tumbling river while the strong wind blew on their faces, "one of the biggest rivers in our world. It originates in the Northern Mountains and flows through Konan. Then, when it reaches the Kutou border, it will double back and flow to Sairo. _(S.P. : now does that sound like a tourist guide reciting lines or what?)_

"Wow Amiboshi," Ai was impressed, "you are starting to sound like Chiriko!"

"Oh he doesn't just sound like Chiriko, now do ya, Amiboshi?" Tasuki's deep growl could be heard coming from behind them, his face hard and unfriendly toward the Seiryu Seishi.

Amiboshi started to have an odd feeling in his stomach, he shifted uncomfortably. Judged by her casual expression, he decided that Chichiri didn't tell her much about his history with the Suzaku Seven. _Well, Tasuki's bound to sometimes_, thought Amiboshi, though strangely the idea of Ai knowing about his betrayal didn't sound appealing at all. Luckily, Tasuki was whisked away by Nuriko.

"Well, I guess I just have a special history with this river," replied Amiboshi simply, "I know things that concern me. You know, a branch river of Kai flows through Konan's capital, too. It's not nearly as impressive as the main river, and it runs straight for the Sairo border. But…" he let the sentence hang, then stared out into space.

By nightfall they had traveled a great distance along the river, which ran east-westward towards Sairo. They stopped and set up Camp in a small clearing in the woods. Miroku and Tamahome gathered the firewood and Tasuki set it on fire, after he charred Tamahome.

* * *

"You know Tasuki, maybe you are a demon," commented Nuriko when they were all sitting near the fire eating supper. 

"What's that supposed to mean you #&!" Tasuki exploded, while waving his fan dangerously in the air, "Ain't that Tama Obake-Chan's title?"

"Leave me out of it!' Tamahome shouted.

"You know how the demons we met, Inuyasha, Koga, all have fangs, and so do you. Doesn't that say something? I mean, even Ai-chan's creeped out at them."

Ai grinned sheepishly, "Hey, I just watched one Dracula movie too many, okay?"

"You mean you are really scared of them?" asked Tasuki, for the first time in his life he felt self-conscious by his fangs.

"This is not what I…"

"Why do I have to be like those two mutt demons!" cried Tasuki.

"Hey!" Inuyasha's face grew beet-red, "Don't you dare calling me a mutt! Oh great… I'll have another Koga at my heels."

"Don't you compare me with THAT wolf demon!"

"What? Even Ai said you two were so alike that you could be brothers, right?" Inuyasha smirked.

"Shut up Mutt!"

"What did you say…"

Everyone nearby was starting to have a headache until finally Nuriko pulled them apart and punched Tasuki into a nearby tree.

Ai was content to hear them bicker, until a tune of flute drifted into her ear. It was light and mild, but it managed to rise above the noises of shouting and bodies being slammed around, though no one else seemed to notice…

Amiboshi leaned against a tree trunk, his features silhouetted by moonlight. His fingers danced nimbly on his flute in rhythm with the leaping fire. His face was dreamily focused, and very handsomely so. Strands of golden-blond hair fell elegantly across his face. Behind that veil of golden silk, peeked out eyes that were as warm as the rays of the sun, as sweet as honey, and as clear as a mountain spring.

Ai's body seemed to move on its own. Swiftly she grabbed her backpack and took out a sketching kit, _(S.P. : what did you think she was going to do, hentais?)_something she had intended to bring along for days. She rested the drawing board on her knees and soon her pencil, too, danced with the rhythm on the smooth white paper.

* * *

"Hey Ai, watcha doin' there?" Tasuki yelled when he realized that Ai's been silent for a long while now, and frequently casting glances at Amiboshi, which annoyed him a whole lot. 

"Wow, she's drawn a picture of Amiboshi playing the flute, and lookin' good too!" Nuriko said excitedly.

"Hey! How come I don't get a picture?" Tasuki complained.

"Cuz your face is too scary!" teased Nuriko, "You should draw me next Ai-chan! See how pretty I am?"

"You really have talent," complimented Sango, Miroku nodded in agreement.

"It… it's nothing really!" exclaimed Ai, embarrassed. She peeked at Amiboshi, he already stopped playing and was listening in amusement.

Inuyasha growled again,

_Side Scene:_

_Chiriko: Why is that guy Inuyasha growling all the time?_

_Shippo: Cuz he's jealous._

_Chiriko: I still miss Miaka, but not so much now. Ai-chan's great! The books she gave me were absolutely fascinating. Do you think some of the other Seishis still miss her? They were in love with Miaka, you know._

_Shippo: Inuyasha likes Kagome-chan, too. But I'd say Ai-chan keeps them entertained quite well. Oh, you win again!" (They were playing shoot-the-pebble)_

_Chiriko: It's really not that difficult, actually. You just have to find the ratio of the distances between the pebble as well as their geometric relations, then apply the appropriate amount of force and motion…_

_His character disappeared._

_Chiriko?_

Ai finally managed to get away from the crowd with Amiboshi. They walked to the edge of the clearing, where through the trees the water of River Kai could be seen glowing under the moonlight, flowing under a thin layer of silver mist.

"I didn't mean to, don't be offended…" Ai strove to explain.

Amiboshi grinned. "Why should I be offended? It's an honour to be drawn in a portrait. You made me look better than in real life!"

Ai looked down at the drawing, the coal-sketched woods were deep and dark, but a soft light surrounded the flute-player-on-paper, his eyes were clear and focused, the music seemed to flow out of the player's mouth, though no sounds came. _Oh Amiboshi, _said Ai silently, _you are much more beautiful in real life…_

"If… if you like, the sketching is yours," said Ai.

"R…really?" Amiboshi was excited, only rich people had portraits in his world. "Thank you! I'll play you anything you like!" he said as he took out his flute.

"Can you play Bring Me To Life, or Break Away, or how about songs from Japan? Scarlet, Ai No Uta…" said Ai.

"And they are songs from which tribe?" inquired Amiboshi.

"Err," Ai sweat-dropped, "Never mind."

"I guess I'll just play you a love song from southern Konan. Konan love ballads are the best in the four realms."

"Love… love song? Great, huh," said Ai nervously.

The music flowed, it suited the scenery completely. The melody was dreamy and sweet. At that moment Ai wished nothing more than just than just for this moment to last forever. Ai felt a warm surge inside her. For a moment she thought the Feather of Suzaku she wore around her neck glowed. But when she looked at it again, the feather was laying lightless and peaceful against her chest, if a little too warm.


	14. Secret and Plunge

Chapter Fourteen, Secret and Plunge 

Hello, this is S.P. This is a long chapter. It sure looked ominous when I was typing it! Just so you know, the plot turns sinister here. But don't worry, the humour won't die!

_**Reviewer's Corner:**_

_A huge thanks goes out to all who reviewed or read my story! It makes me glad that you even take the time to read this story of mine !_

_Blackcherryimplants: Wow, that's really flattering to hear. My best friend Bailey and I both think that the stereotype should die. I mean, why do girls have to be protected all the time by men? It's really not fair. My best friend's now the official fan of Ceres (from Ayashi No Ceres), Yui, and possibly Kikyo too, all vengeful characters. She used to be a huge Kagome fan but did a 360-degree turn and went over to the dark side. I, on the other hand, is not nearly so dramatic. So I write a fanfic instead! Hmm, the official full title of this fic is now **Love That Transcends Time: A Tale To Avenge All Unfairly Stereotyped Priestesses/Time Travelers Who Are So Heinously Abused.** Lol. And for the battle scenes, I'm just so glad it satisfies you. I'm a huge martial arts fan, just check my bio!_

_To all of you who don't believe in the stereotype, I suggest you make reference to Motomiya Akane from Harukanaru Toki No Naka De or even Kanzaki Hitomi from Escaflowne, you'll see what I mean. Girls just gotta be less boy-crazy and learn to fight, you know what I'm talkin' about?_

_

* * *

_

The flute's soothing music flowed in the air; it was warm, comfortingly warm. Ai was soaring high in the sky, looking at the brad terrain. But she couldn't see Kirara's back. She panicked, but calmed down when she realized that her wings were carrying her up, up through the clouds. They were Suzaku's wings. The feather glowed brightly against her chest. She was happy. Then, she felt her feet touching the ground, it was all white. Ai's brothers were arguing whether the napkins on her wedding reception table should be green or purple.

"Sango and Nuriko love purple!" yelled Haru.

"But green suits Amiboshi more," argued Yutaka, "he's the groom after all."

"Hey!" Ai shouted, "I'm not marrying anybody!"

Her brothers never heard her. It went dark all of a sudden and a beam of light flashed, ominous, brighter than lightning…

Ai woke up.

She was lying in her sleeping bag, staring hard into the starlit night sky. She sat up, her heart was still pounding, the ominous feeling had remained. She looked around, the woods were dark and silent, only an occasional, soft snore could be heard from Tasuki a few cots away. A raven crowed, and a gust of cold wind blew through the branches, a few leaves fell. Ai's hand touched the Feather for warmth. But it was lightless and cold. _Why, _she asked herself, _why do I have this feeling that something bad was waiting for them in Mitsukake's village?_

"The village was called Hakuryo, it was right beside the Kai River, no da," said Chichiri. The sun just rose from the Eastern sky, and the air was cool and fresh.

Glittering dew covered the ground, making it slippery to walk on.

"So we'll just go in, drag Mitsukake out, and ask him what the hell is up. No problem! Sounds quite easy to me!" said Tasuki.

_Almost too easy, _thought Ai. Mitsukake had not sent them anymore Chi messenges, but perhaps he was too busy curing the village people of whatever plague they contracted. No one even thought, or dared to think, that something might've happened to Mitsukake.

They walked on the dirt trail that led them inside the village. No one spoke; no sounds were heard and no birds sang. The fields looked untended and there's no smoke rising from the chimneys. In one yard of a small farmhouse laid the carcass of a dead pig as it rotted away in the sun. Inuyasha's nose twitched, "This place smells like death."

"But surely there's still someone around," said Nuriko.

If he was not so busy looking around, he would've heard footsteps coming from behind him, which wasn't supposed to happen because he's the last in line.

"We should split up and find Mitsukake," said Tamahome.

The footsteps came slowly closer as it approached Nuriko. It was not at all steady, as if belonged to a sickly man. But still no one noticed.

Nuriko nodded, he agreed with Tamahome. But as he was about to speak, he felt a light tap on his right shoulder.

"What is it Tasuki?" Nuriko asked impatiently, thinking it was the troublesome seishi, only to be greeted by an annoyed reply from the front, "What are you talking about Nuriko?"

Nuriko felt a chill, he realized there should be no one behind him. Then, the mysterious hand tapped again. Nuriko slowly spun around, and screamed.

The man was dressed in rags, and looked like he had no had a bath in weeks. His face was unshaven and his hair was long and matted. Beneath the tangled locks were hollowed, lightless eyes and a wax-like face. His skinny, skeleton-like hands reached out for Nuriko. A mumble came out of his cracked lips, "Food…"

Just as Nuriko was about to go berserk and swing a punch, Chichiri shouted, "No Nuriko! It's Mitsukake!"

An hour later, they were sitting in Mitsukake's makeshift hut by the River Kai at the edge of the village. They had given Mitsukake some food and water, and the doctor had bathed and shaved himself. He looked almost normal now, if not a bit weathered and thin.

"Now couldn't you pick a less scary method for saying you're hungry Mitsukake? I thought you were some demon trying to eat me! You were going for my throat!" Nuriko complained loudly, his last encounter with plague zombies at Shao-Huan's village was still clear and vivid in his mind.

"Gomen, Nuriko-san," the reserved seishi spoke, "But you were carrying the food bag around your shoulder."

"Oh," Nuriko chuckled nervously, "isn't this interesting, heh, heh."

"No," said Tasuki. But he said no more because seconds later, he was smashed into the wall. The whole hut shook dangerously and everyone (minus Tasuki) glared at Nuriko.

Chichiri was quick to business.

"Mitsukake, how is the plague, no da? We saw no one when we entered the village, no da. Is… is everyone here dead, no da?"

Mitsukake's face fell. "That's why I need your help. No, the village hasn't been completely wiped out, yet. There are still a couple of families left alive in the west end of the village. I did everything I could, but none of my plague remedies worked, not even the most potent ones. As you know, I can only heal limited number of people each day, so the curing was slow. But even those I have cured mysteriously got sick again. Puzzlingly, I have been in contact with the villagers everyday, but did not contract the disease. Which is lucky, for I cannot heal myself."

That was a long speech for Mitsukake, and he didn't speak of good news. Everyone remained silent, each consumed in his or her own thoughts. Ai was most shocked of all. The others had seen plenty of destroyed villages in their days, but Ai had not. Her mind could not wipe the image of the dead pig lying in the yard of a ghost town village. If there were rotting pigs, there were rotting bodies of people, spread in the dark, silent huts. And there must be those still clinging to life, struggling at their last moments.

In the afternoon, Mitsukake went to check on one of the remaining plague patients. Despite the doctor's warning of possible infection, the rest of the gang went with him as well. All the way there they encountered nothing but and death and emptiness, dead pigs, chickens, horses and occasionally, people. Their bodies lay bare under the sun, the smell was unbearable.

"Sorry," Mitsukake apologized, "I buried as many as I could."

Ai could not believe the sight before her eyes. In her world, this was something that appears in movies, not in real life! But there she was, witnessing a massacre, a total annihilation of a village. The reality was harsh, and real.

But despite being shocked, she noticed something quite suspicious. The crops, they were dead, too. Ai could understand if they simply died of the lack of care and irrigation. But her instincts told her this was not so. The weeds, they were wiped out also. Something was just not right…

* * *

"Doctor, doctor, please save my son!" a woman about fifty years old dashed out of the house as soon as she saw Mitsukake approaching. She had a disheveled look about her: her clothes filthy and torn, her face wax-like and hollow, her hair untied and matted. Her cries for help was layered with desperate plea and panic.

Mitsukake followed the woman into the house. It too, was in a messy state. It seemed to Ai as if since the plague came, no one in the village cared to live anymore. It literally knocked them off their feet.

The doctor-seishi sat by the bed where a ill-looking young man lay. His head was covered in sweat and his face pale, obviously in pain. His mother rambled on, "He threw up every spoonful of medicine…stomache…fever…Oh he's dying help him!"

Mitsukake took the young man's pulse, and felt his forehead. The young man suddenly bursted into a violent fit of pained cough. Mitsukake pressed him down; the young man calmed, and started to take in quick, shallow breaths.

"Alright," Mitsukake said finally, "I'm going to heal him."

"Are you sure you're strong enough, no da?" Chichiri asked.

"I have no choice. But I think I'll be okay."

Mitsukake extended his hand over the young man's forehead. His character glowed as orbs of warm energy light left his hand and entered the young man's body. For a moment nothing happened, but slowly the young man's breathing steadied and colour began to reappear on his ash-white cheeks.

"He's going to be fine, at least for the moment," Mitsukake said to the young man's mother. She bursted into tears of joy. Mitsukake closed his eyes in exhaustion when she said her thanks and asked what he wanted in payment.

"I desire nothing of that sort, thought could you please get my friends some water?" Tama-neko appeared out of nowhere, meowing, demanding fish.

After giving out water to Mitsukake, Tasuki, Tamahome, Inuyasha, and Miroku, the hospitable village woman declared the water jar dry. Ai volunteered to fetch water for her.

"Ai, don't you need someone to protect you?" Tamahome asked.

Ai winced at the word "protect", somehow she had grown to dislike it, especially when it's used on her.

"No thanks Tamahome. I think I can take care of myself for ten minutes." Ai smiled as she grabbed the bucket and skipped out the door before anyone could protest.

There was a well right by the house, but Ai, fearing that the well water might be contaminated during the plague, had inquired the woman, Mrs. Yu, for a fresher source. It turned out that there was a small stream not far into the woods that fed the well.

The dusk was slowly setting on this eventful day. Ai's footsteps were light and quick on the grassy path of the woods, she didn't hum to herself. For some reason the quiet woods were telling her to hush, so she did. She clutched the wooden bucket and made haste until she could hear the musical trickling of water against pebbles. She also heard, or sensed, something else.

She was not alone in the woods, Ai was sure of that. A person was also by the stream, a person with a dark, sly aura that she didn't like at all. But that person didn't seem to have noticed her. Ai slowed down into a cautious crawl as she completely silenced her footsteps. She slid from tree to tree, careful not to step on any twigs or fallen leaves. When she deemed she was near enough, Ai peeked out from behind a tree trunk, and saw a sight that made her eyes narrow in suspicion.

A man clad in black jumped out of nowhere among the trees, and landed silently by the creek. His face was half concealed behind a black cloth, showing only his sly and ruthless eyes. The high ponytail and the short daggers at his belt told Ai he was some sort of ninja.

The ninja looked around. Ai carefully shifted deeper into the trees, holding her breath as she suppressed her chi. It worked. The ninja produced a china vial from his sash, took out the lid, and expertly dumped the contents into the water. After he's done, ninja put the vial back in his sash and jump away in a flash. Ai gasped at the inhuman speed. But something caught her eye as it fell to the ground. It was the vial. The ninja didn't secure it tight enough in his haste and dropped it. Ai made sure he wasn't coming back then made her way to the vial. She picked it up and examined the glossy surface, a crest shaped like a blue dragon was printed at the side. _Kutou…_ Ai quickly opened the lid, and found some white powder still remaining at the bottom. She sniffed it, it was odourless. It was also colourless when she dumped the powder experimentally into the water, but a couple of fish that were swimming nearby rolled up on their bellies and died.

Feeling breathless, Ai pushed herself onto her feet and ran like she never ran before back to the hut. Her friends' lives were on the line.

"Drop the water! Spit it out!" Ai shouted desperately as she barged into the hut.

"What are you…"Tasuki started to ask, but Ai interrupted him as she hit him in the side of the face with the bucket and knocked the cup out of his hand. She also kicked aside Tama neko's uneaten plate of fish. The kitty pawed the air in protest.

"Ai, what's the matter with you?" Tamahome asked sternly.

"Poison…Kutou…water…plague… We're all gonna die if drink…" Ai was trying to put everything in a single sentence, but failed miserably.

"What?" said everyone.

"I said, we're all gonna die if we drink the water 'cause I saw Kutou ninja dumping poison into the stream that fed the well. It's probably what caused the plague in the first place," said Ai.

"You mean…" Nuriko said disbelievingly.

Ai nodded. "It all make sense now. There never was a plague in the first place. The weird, un-plague-like, recurring symptoms, the dead plants and fields, were all results of consuming poisoned well water. Also, Mitsukake didn't get the plague because he wasn't drinking well water. He lived right by River Kai, and got the water from there. As for the ninja's warning to Hotohori, he probably meant that they had already taken revenge, which is this."

"What a cruel thing to do, even in war," Miroku declared.

Suddenly, the monk dropped his cup and doubled over in pain. Soon, Mitsukake, Tasuki, and Tamahome did the same. The cups smashed into pieces on the ground.

"Oh no! The poison must've gotten into them!" Amiboshi exclaimed.

Ai quickly took out the vial and showed it to Chichiri. "Can you recognize the poison? Please tell me you know how to make a cure!"

"I, I think I recognize it, no da. It's oleander pollen, scorpion venom, and an extremely small amount of oblivion herb to make it colourless, odourless, and tasteless. But there's something else I don't quite fathom, no da." frowned Chichiri, his mask fell.

"It's the poisoned vapour of a demon," said Sango, "I sensed a strong jaki coming out it. But it feels like something from our world. You don't think…"

"That bastard Naraku…put it in the poison and give it to the bastard henchmen of the bastard General you guys were fighting to make it so…so your doctor here can't find a cure, at…at least not in this world." Inuyasha spat out breathlessly.

"Damn… damn it! The pain's growing stronger!"

Ai panicked, If Inuyasha, a hanyou, was feeling it, then the four humans wouldn't survive! Surely enough, Mitsukake, Tasuki, Tamahome, and Miroku were now writhing on the floor in pain.

Sango looked at Chichiri, "I believe we still have a chance. I happened to have some powder to cure demon poison in my pouch _(S.P. – Go tajiya! Three cheers for Sango) _and together we can find a cure."

"There would be no need." A new, growling voice said behind them. They turned around, only to find a horrific sight. A tall man clad in Kutou armour stood in the door way, with fifty soldiers stood behind him in the yard, ten were ninja-like assassins. The hospitable woman of the house and her newly-recovered son lay on the floor in two puddles of blood, dead.

"Shocked, Doctor Mitsukake?" the man smiled sadistically, "to see that the boy you have spent so much energy in healing now lay dead. What a shame, isn't it?"

"You…Kutou…bastards…" Mitsukake gasped out.

The sinister smile was gone from the man's face, "I disapprove of Nakago-sama's alliance with a demon, but I can only admire his wisdom now that the plan has worked. Your strongest warriors were poisoned and weak, as well as your healing source. The young Miko's discovery was unexpected, the ninja-in-question would be punished, of course. Nakago-sama was hoping to get all of you poisoned, however, this is but a minor setback. I do believe we have more advantage."

"So…the plague, the warning, all of it was a trap to kill us?" asked Ai, trembling in anger.

"How smart of you to figure it out. Oops, too late." The man taunted, "Now, prepare to die!"

At his command, about twenty soldiers launched themselves at them with swords and spears. With Mitsukake, Tamahome, Miroku, and Tasuki on the floor, the remaining members of the gang got into battle stance. Amiboshi took out his flute, Chichiri holding his staff, and Sango (very dramatically) tore away her traveling kimono to reveal the taijiya armour underneath. Ai, too, took a deep breath and prepared to fight.

A soldier ran towards Ai, his spear pointing straight at her heart. Ai smiled inwardly, he was underestimating her. She dodged the spear and swung a kick at the back of his knee joints. The soldier gasped in surprise when his legs failed him. Ai grabbed the spear from him and knocked him out. She clutched her new found weapon and swung around just when another soldier came at her from behind. She shoved the blunt end of the spear into his stomach. _(S.P. – what, you expect me to make our priestess kill?)_

All around her the battle waged on. Sango stood in front of the four sick men and swung her hiraikotsu at anyone who dared to come near. Chichiri was freezing the enemies with his spells before knocking them down his staff. Kirara transformed into her battle form, Inuyasha was knocking down Kutou soldiers with his fist, if not as quick as usual. Even Shippo was fighting, using his illusion spinning top and foxfire to keep the attackers at bay. Chiriko watched the young kitsune in awe; his character had disappeared when he tripped during the confusion and he's now, well a crybaby.

Although everyone was doing their best, Ai knew they could not keep up for long. They must get out. Sango must've realized this, she yelled for Kirara.

Ai knocked aside the soldier she was fighting at the moment and rushed over. She helped Tamahome, Mitsukake, and Miroku onto the feline's back. Kirara grunted under the weight. She wasn't used to carrying three men. Chichiri grabbed Tasuki. "Ai, I can teleport you out of here, too no da!"

Ai refused. "Thank you, Chichiri. But I need to stay here and fight." She jumped away before the monk could make a move for her and threw him Shippo and Chiriko instead.

"Oh no you don't!" The Kutou captain growled. The ten black-clad ninjas jumped out to surround them.

The ninjas made a circle around Ai and her companions. Sango quietly put down her hiraikotsu and unsheathed her katana. Inuyasha flexed his claws.

The ninja closed in, two made moves for Ai. But Inuyasha knocked them out. One still made an attempt at attacking her, but Ai kicked his joints and knelt on his legs, the stick of the spear crossing against his throat, restricting all movements.

"Sango, now!"

Sango dropped her sword combat with the ninja and grabbed the giant boomerang again. She commanded Kirara to go and ran alongside the two-tail, making way with the hiraikotsu. Chichiri, too, took the advantage of the confusion and teleported out of the house.

The ninjas, however, wasn't about to give up yet. They all reached for the hidden weapons in their belts. Seconds later, numerous star-blades and kunais soared through the air, aiming straight for Sango and Kirara.

"Blades of Blood!" Flashed of red light shaped like the new moon cut through the air, destroying the kunais, a couple of ninjas, and half the wall in the process. Sango and Kirara made a run for it and disappeared into the woods.

"Kuso! Damn you!" the Captain swore. Nakago-sama would not be happy with this. He raised his sword above Ai, but Inuyasha broke his leg and he fell down to the ground.

"It's now or never!" Inuyasha shouted, sounding breathless. The poison was really starting to bother him. Amiboshi grabbed Ai and dashed into the woods, with Inuyasha leaping through the air beside them.

They ran and ran, always following the twisting trail, hoping to catch a glimpse of their companions. But the woods were quiet except for their panting and footsteps. All around them were darkness. With only the haunting moonlight guiding their path, Amiboshi, Ai, and Inuyasha sprinted on, not daring to stop, for the enemy may still be hot on their heels. Suddenly, Inuyasha slowed down and knelt on the ground. Ai immediately rushed over to him.

"Inuyasha! Are you okay?"

The hanyou's breathing was coarse and shallow, obviously in pain. It was only made worse by the bloody gash on his stomach, which he inflicted upon himself for the blades of blood attack.

Inuyasha turned towards Amiboshi, "They wouldn't catch up for some time, take Ai and run. I… I'm too weak right now… to protect her. Please…guard her with your…life."

"Inuyasha, what about you?" asked Amiboshi.

"I'm a half demon after all, a couple of… weak humans can't kill me," he forced out a smirk, "Besides, her life is more important. I can't…let her…die again."

"Inuyasha," Ai muttered, she was at a loss for words.

"Go! Don't just stand there stupids!"

Amiboshi nodded at the crouching hanyou before running off, taking Ai with him.

* * *

_Run,_ was the only thing on Ai's mind. _Run, just run. Don't think about anything else such as your friends dying or the enemy's chasing you. Just run, and everything will be okay._

It seemed like an eternity before Amiboshi finally released her hand and stopped to rest. Ai looked ahead and saw water. The mighty River Kai was blocking their escape.

"Do you want to rest for awhile?" Amiboshi asked gently.

Ai nodded and collapsed.

Amiboshi looked out to the shimmering river, wondering if that's the last thing they'll ever see.

"Will we die tonight?" Ai asked quietly.

"What, you scared?" said Amiboshi, half teasing her.

"No! I was just wondering," Ai retorted.

"It's okay," Amiboshi placed a hand on her shoulder, "We'll fight on. It wouldn't be fair to all our friends and companions if we give up."

An image of Inuyasha appeared in her mind and she felt strength returning to her. Just at that moment, they both heard the whooshing sound of something flying towards them.

Amiboshi shouted, "Watch out!" then knocked them both flat onto the ground, his body shielding hers. A hard, round object flew by merely inches from their heads and sliced through Amiboshi's sleeve. Luckily, it didn't draw blood.

"An…aniiki?"

Amiboshi raised his head. "Su…Suboshi? Otouto? Why do you throw your Ryuseisui at us?"

Ai looked at the two boys, _Aniiki? Otouto? Are they twin brothers?_

The angry twin retorted, "Why do you protect the Suzaku bitch then brother?"

Ai had to use all her will power to restrain herself from shouting back, "Who are you calling a bitch you bastard."

Amiboshi stood up, "Suboshi, listen to me. Nakago has been lying to us. It's he, and Kutou, who want to start a war, not the Suzaku seishis! On the contrary, they are all nice people. So if you'll just…"

"No! I won't listen to you!" Suboshi yelled through angry tears. "I don't like Nakago either but I'll never betray Yui-sama! I don't have to listen to a traitor!"

The steel balls of Ryuseisui flew toward them, but Amiboshi and Ai managed to dodge them, barely. Just as Amiboshi was stepping backwards he slipped. He fell into the water of River Kai with a loud "splash", dragging Ai down with him.

Suboshi watched, frozen, as the water current buried their heads and soon carried them away. _Aniiki… It happened again! It's all my fault! I killed him! _Through the tears Suboshi saw faintly something glowing in the water, something red, and warm. He blinked, and it's gone. But there's no time for mournful musings or investigating unknown glowing objects, however, for he could sense the miko's friends coming this way.


	15. Of Being Wet, and Family

Chapter Fifteen, Of Being Wet, and Family 

_**IMPORTANT NOTICE: **I changed Ai's last name, Akimoto, to Akiyama, which means autumn mountain. No reason, I just felt like it, and it sounds prettier, in both Japanese and Chinese._

_Author's Note: It's been sooooo long since I last updated. You might find a trip to my friend's place (out of town) for a week and my anime-watching marathon to have something to do with it. I watched Harukanaru Toki No Naka De, Escaflowne, and Fruits Basket one by one (hurray for BT download!), so I'm kinda worn out. But no matter, here's the new chapter. PLEASE REVIEW! I can't believe no one reviewed the last chapter. I'm so sad…to think I advised another author to not beg for reviews, I'm now doing the exact same thing! I'm such a hypocrite. But I'll never threaten for reviews, though, such as saying "No review, no update". But still, a couple of reviews would be nice. And once again,_

_PLEASE REVIEW!_

Knock, knock, knock, three taps on the apartment door woke up a groggy Yutaka. Just as he was wondering who would come knocking at nine o'clock on a Sunday morning, Haru's lazy voice came out of his room, "Yutaka, go get the door!"

Yutaka cursed under his breath, he was supposed to be the oldest, what was the brat doing ordering him around? Older siblings just don't get any respects in this house. First Ai, now Haru… the knocks came again, this time, considerably louder.

"Coming!" yelled Yutaka as he hastily pulled up his pants and slid into his shirt. "Who is it?"

"We are representatives from Akiyama Ai's math class," came the reply.

_Oh no, _thought Yutakathis is just not his lucky day. He opened the door, two girls were standing in the doorway.

"My sister's in the, um, hospital right now, so, you just have to come back another day," lied Yutaka. The girl who had light-brown wavy hair seemed convinced, but the other girl, who had straight shoulder-length black hair, didn't buy it.

"The hospital? I thought it's only a stomach flu," her dark eyes glinted sharply behind her glasses.

"Well um, you know how this goes," Yutaka forced out a smile, "she gets the stomach flu, she gets worse, she throws up, stinks up the bathroom…" _Ai's gonna kill me when she hears about this!_

The brown-haired girl was trying her hardest not to appear grossed out in her perfect make-up and frilly pink dress, but the black-haired one continue to remain serious. "Oh really? Then could you please give me her hospital's name and room number?"

_Curse it! How is it that kids are all so troublesome these days? _"Um, well, you see…" Yutaka started to feel cold sweat, "Hey, do you hear something? I think I hear something!" "Actually, I don't really…" "Maybe Ai got back from the hospital last night! You know what, I'll check on her room so wait here…" He shut the door in her face.

"Haru, GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW!" Yutaka ran to his younger brother's room and yanked the blanket from him.

"What is it now, _Elder Brother?_"

"I need something from you," said Yutaka as he began fumbling through Haru's closet. After awhile, he exclaimed with glee, "Ha I found it!" Haru followed his gaze, and saw with horror that his older brother was looking at a huge, life-sized Barbie doll, which Haru had hid deep inside his closet for years. "No you wouldn't! You promised not to show this to anybody!"

"What?" said Yutaka nonchalantly, "It's your birthday present."

"But that's from Aunt Miori who didn't know I'm a boy!"

"Ah, but that's not important," said Yutaka as he reached out to pull the giant doll from the top plank of Haru's closet.

"Don't!" shouted Haru. Too late, a small mountain of stuff fell on Yutaka's head just as the doll came loose.

"Bro, are you alright?" asked Haru when Yutaka's head slowly reemerged from the pile of forgotten items ranging from old stinky socks to toy "Bob the Builder" trucks missing a wheel. Yutaka didn't say a word. Instead, he held the doll victoriously with a crazed grin on his face. He went to Ai's room and dropped the doll on the light purple coverlet of the neatly made bed.

"This doll has the same dark brown hair as Ai," explained Yutaka, "and is very life-like, as I might say. So if those girls want my sister, they'll have her, only it's not really her. I'm such a …genius!"

"Ahuh," Haru sweat-dropped as he looked at his brother's tears of happiness.

Yutaka turned serious again. "Now, Haru, I need you to change this doll into one of Ai's pajamas and get her into bed. Make sure her back is facing the door."

"Why do I have to do it? I don't want to s…s…strip a girl!" Haru stuttered.

Yutaka put an innocent smile on his face. "Oh, so you don't wanna do it? Then I guess we can put a wig on you and you can be Ai."

"You mean I have to be my own ugly, clumsy, violent, fifteen-years-old-without-a-boyfriend sister? No way!" "Then I suggest you get on with what I told you!" said Yutaka authoritatively as he walked out of the room.

Haru looked down at the doll in a disgusted sort of way and started to take off the movie-star dress. He sighed, he felt like a hentai.

When Yutaka opened the door, the girls weren't very happy. But the truth was, he wasn't either. He was sort of hoping that after a few minutes of waiting, they would go away. "So?" asked the black-haired girl impatiently. "As it turned out, Ai did come back so, come on in!" said Yutaka in fake warmness. "It's about time," the girl replied coolly and stepped into the room. Yutaka followed her, praying that Haru was ready. As it turned out, he was. When they entered Ai's bedroom, Haru had everything arranged just as planned.

"Ai" was lying on the bed, with the blanket covering most of her body, leaving only the head out. She was lying with her back towards the visitors so no one would see her real face, which was a model made from hard plastic and paint. Haru was nowhere to be seen, but Yutaka knew he was hiding behind the other side of the bed, ready to put on an act.

"So…here's my sis! She doesn't look good, does she? So I guess you'll just have to come back later when she's feeling better…"

The perky class representative ignored him and began to talk to the doll covered by blankets whom she thought was Ai. "Akiyama-san, you probably have never seen me before because I'm new. And you were absent the day I was introduced. I'm our math teacher, Mr. Honda's niece. I'm very sorry to interrupt your rest but we are sent here by Mr. Honda to review with you our new Math lessons before you take your make-up test. Your first test, I'm very sorry to inform you, had been failed. However, our teacher recognized that it's not your fault so we're here to help you. Um, any questions?"

After an embarrassing fifteen-second silence, Haru finally got the cue. "Um, no, continue please," he said in a squeaky imitation of Ai's voice, which, unknown to him, was terrible.

"Um, Ai, did they make you swallow helium?" the wavy-haired representative asked in a low, scandalous voice. The bossy one cleared her throat. "Don't be silly Mayako! Um, Akiyama-san, perhaps you would like something for your throat?"

"(squeaky voice) No, thank you, I just had, er, my tonsils removed," lied Haru. Yutaka slapped his forehead, swearing to make his little brother take an IQ test when this was over. How stupid could he be? Why would someone who had stomach flu need to get her tonsils removed?

The bossy class rep raised her eyebrows, but only said, "Shall we start then?"

The next twenty minutes went in a blur, with many words like "exponent", "squared", "perimeter", "", and "Pythagorean Theorem", along with Haru's occasional "Um"s and "Ah"s. Yutaka's shirt was now soaked with cold sweat.

After awhile, the class rep finally lost her politeness and popped the question up, "Akiyama-san, could you at least turn around and face us?"

"Ahhhh, you, you don't know how…how lucky, I mean UGLY I am, you…you would faint if you saw my face!" Haru panicked.

"Akiyama-san!" the class rep was appalled, "although I know you very well but I'm sure your classmates saw your face many times and frankly, I don't think anyone has ever fainted…" "Or I could give you a makeover!" the wavy-haired, girly girl class representative named Mayako squeaked excitedly, stars popping out of her eyes.

"Um, what she meant was…was that she is now suffering from the um, the Classrepatitis, which is a horrible rash growing on the face," explained Yutaka, trying to do damage control. Mayako's expression changed from excited to understanding, she let out a long "Ohhhh!" But the other class rep, whom Yutaka now dubbed as "the stubborn mule", just gave Mayako a long glare before turning her attention back to Ai.

"Akiyama-san," she said in a desperate voice, "I don't care how you look like, just turn around so you can look at some of these equations. It's absolutely important that you…Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

An ear-piercing scream was heard when Haru popped out from under the bed and blew a raspberry in her face. "Where did you come from?" she asked.

"Earth," replied Haru truthfully, "though I'd like to be from Mars. What about you?"

"Um, how cute!" Mayako squeaked again and tried to hug Haru.

"You know what?" said Haru nervously, " I think I should pour you guys some tea, yeah, that's good idea." He skipped gingerly out of room, trying to dodge the arms of a crazed Mayako, who followed him out.

Yutaka: "…"

The Mule: "…"

Yutaka: "…"

Finally, the "Stubborn Mule" couldn't bear the silence anymore. "You know, Akiyama-san, it won't be our responsibility if you fail your grade."

Silence.

"You have to cooperate with us. I can't teach you unless you can look me in the eye."

Silence.

"Akiyama-san? Akiyama-san! If you don't turn around, I'll just force you to!"

Yutaka watched with horror as the Mule's hand reached out to "Ai's" shoulder in an attempt to turn her over. Her hand came closer, and closer, until…

"Ohhhh! So cute! Akiyama-san is sooooo lucky to have such a cute little brother!" Mayako's high-pitched giggles were followed by Haru's breathless whisper, "Help…me…" "Ohhhh, so cute, doesn't your sister hug you?" Mayako proceeded to kiss Haru's cheek, Haru finally lost it. He struggled, and just when the Mule was about to reach the Barbie Doll's shoulder, the teacup slipped out of Haru's grip and soared through the air. It landed right on Mule's head.

She stood in silence, with her hair and blouse completely soaked and a teacup on her head. She wiped her glasses and turned around to leave, never casting a second glance back at "Ai". It seemed that she finally had had enough.

"Um, Senpai! Wait for me!" Mayako abruptly dropped Haru (much to the boy's relief) and ran to join the bossy, now soaked, girl. Yutaka blurted out, "Um, could I offer you a towel on your way out, Mule… I mean, Miss…?"

"Megumi," the girl turned around, and somehow managed to say her name in her usual calm and dignified manner, "My name is Honda Megumi."

* * *

Ai didn't know what happened, one moment she was standing by the riverbank with Amiboshi, worrying about whether Suboshi, the guy who Amiboshi had called "younger brother", would slice them to pieces with those Ryuseisui of his, and the next moment

She was being pulled down into the currents, water closing in on her from all directions. She choked and struggled, trying to stay afloat, but the weight of wet clothes was pulling her down. The water muffled the world outside, the ethereal silence and her own oxygen-starved brain made her shut out her senses. Then, it was all dark.

When Ai finally came to, it was by a dull pain in her head. She slowly opened her eyes, then closed them quickly. The light was blinding. Was she in heaven? If she was, why was she so cold, and wet?

She opened her eyes again, and found that it's already morning. She was in an unknown river valley, with green trees and steep mountain cliffs rising on each side. The river was much more shallow now, with rocky bottom instead of soft mud. Ai felt she could almost touch the bottom with her feet.

The current had flailed her against a rock, which she was now holding on to. She was surprised she was still alive, she should've drowned. But, where's Amiboshi? Frantically, she searched everywhere her eyes could reach. Suddenly, she spotted him. There, floating on a log, was the blond-haired boy. Ai swam towards the log. She fluttered-kicked her legs and found it actually very easy. The water had washed her sneakers off and her jeans were now ripped and battered, reduced to shorts. When she reached the log, she found Amiboshi's eyes to be closed.

"Amiboshi, Amiboshi! Wake up!" Ai nudged at him, but he remained still. "Amiboshi?" Ai started to grow worried, his face was pale and because his body was buried in water from the neck down, she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. Ai became frightened, what if he was already dead? But as soon as that thought surfaced in her brain, she denied it. Amiboshi couldn't be dead, if she survived, so could he. She splattered water on his face in a desperate attempt to revive him, but to no avail. "Amiboshi, please, please open your eyes…" she pleaded as she leaned against him, trying to find the slightest sign of life. And then, she felt an arm encircling her body.

"Amiboshi you're alive!" Ai shouted with sudden joy. Amiboshi's eyes now fluttered open, and they were as bright and beautiful as ever.

"I'm alive all along baka!" he teased playfully.

"Then why did you…." Realization dawned her. "You were pretending? Amiboshi how could you do this to me? I was worried sick!"

"Oh come on, don't be mad at me," Amiboshi smiled playfully, "when you are worried, you are…cute…"

Despite being soaked in freezing water, heat rushed to Ai's cheeks. She edged away from Amiboshi, "We'd better get back to shore." Amiboshi held out his arm to her, "I can help you if you want." Ai, feeling embarrassed for letting the panic get to her and falling for such an obvious trick, pushed his arm away and kicked off on her own. "No thanks, I'm a swimming champ! Hurry up Amiboshi, I'll race ya!" Amiboshi smiled, then swam after her.

The two dragged their tired, water-soaked body to shore. The autumn wind chilled them to the bones and their bare feet hurting from walking on sharp rocks. Ai walked to a rocky overhang and collapsed under it. Amiboshi sat down beside her.

"We'll need a fire, Ai-san. We can't stay cold for much longer," said Amiboshi. Ai nodded. She quickly got up and searched for dry wood. They broke off dry branches from bushes and trees, and gathered them into a pile. Ai picked out small twigs and dry leaves and set them aside.

"What are you doing Ai?" Amiboshi asked as she was crawling on the ground, searching intently for something. Instead of answering, she picked up two rocks, one coal-black, from the riverbank. Amiboshi watched, intrigued, as Ai expertly struck the rocks together. After several tries, a small spark lit the kindlings and produced a weak flame. She went on to add more twigs. Gradually, the twigs became bigger branches, and the flame grew into a blazing fire.

"You seemed to have done this a lot," Amiboshi remarked as he casually fed a branch into the fire.

"Well, I told you I used to live in the mountains, answered Ai. "If it's the old days, I could've gotten a fire going striking only once. Ah, it sure felt nice to return to the wild again."

"So Ai-san now lives in a big city?" asked Amiboshi.

"Yeah, with Kaa-san and Onee-san and Ototo-chan," said Ai, once again passing over the subject of her father. Smoke was now rising from the fire along with the occasional crackings, which sent sparks flying through the air. It stung her eyes, but Ai still huddled closer to it, grateful for the warmth.

After a couple of hours, their clothes finally dried off. Ai was grateful that during that time Amiboshi said nothing about taking their clothes off. Now that they were dry and comfortable again, more pressing matters came up, such as their location, and food. Ai looked at the fish that were swimming happily in the river, only if she could catch some. However, fishing takes too much time, and the fire's dying but no more dry wood could be found. Amiboshi glanced at the dying embers, wisely observed, "Our only hope is to find a way out of the valley."

"And how do we do that?" asked Ai.

"Wait…" said Amiboshi slowly. "I think I know these mountains."

"Are you sure?" Ai asked, gazing at him intensely. Amiboshi scanned the valley cliffs again, a sudden confidence came to him, "I'm sure. We're at the border of Sairo, and there would be a village up ahead that I lived in. We could go to my parents' house." _Or my adoptive parents, more like…_Amiboshi added silently.

"Is that so?" said Ai excitedly. "Then it must bring back lots of memories for Amiboshi-kun."

_Yeah, lots of memories, _thought Amiboshi darkly, _yet not all are happy ones. _


End file.
